Criminal Behavior CB Moodle Questions 2

lOMoARcPSD|23780900 Moodle Questions 2 1. What is the supply reduction portion of the drug control policy? What are the three components and how do the authors question their efficacy (i.e., explain why they don’t work)? a. Supply reduction aims to completely eradicate or control drugs at their source and seize them as they enter the country, as well as engage in drug enforcement domestically, which is targeted primarily at users. The authors question their efficacy because they argue that it is based on the myth that drug trade is a fixed and static marketplace. As well as this, supply reduction assumes that a drop in availability of drugs will lead to a subsequent decrease in demand because the street prices will skyrocket. In reality, it is not possible to restrict availability enough to cause a significant change in prices because the supply of drugs is simply too large. As well as this, when police focus their efforts in drug enforcement to one area, the issue will be displaced and arise in another, so the problem will never truly be eradicated. Drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin are naturally derived, meaning that it is possible to produce them in a variety of locations. These locations can not all be successfully controlled through the use of crop eradication programs. Seizure at the border is also ineffective, as there will always be other ways for dealers to smuggle drugs across country lines. It is also impossible to control every part of the border at all times. Lastly, the implementation of drug laws on the streets is largely ineffective because it targets low-level dealers and users but fails to thwart the system as a whole. lOMoARcPSD|23780900 2. Who are the casualties of the drug war? Explain why. a. The casualties of the drug war are people of color and women. People of color are targeted at a much higher rate than white individuals because of systemic racism, an issue that occurs in every step of the process. They are much more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, convicted, and sentenced. Although African Americans comprise 13% of the American population, they make up 27% of the drug arrests annually. As well as this, prosecutors are twice as likely to charge a black individual with a mandatory minimum sentence than they are to charge a white person with the same offense. Additionally, women are targeted by drug laws because they often hold lesser positions in drug organizations but are charged with major offenses. These laws also fail to take into account first-time offender status or individual characteristics of defendants. As well as this, women who have been charged with drug related felonies are unable to receive assistance for their families if they need help. Lastly, mothers whose partners or children are incarcerated for drug related crimes can be considered casualties of the drug war. When a father is arrested for drug crimes, the mother is left to take care of the children on her own, which can be a huge financial burden. This is especially true because the system is designed to punish rather than rehabilitate, so it is impossible for the father to provide for the family. When a woman’s child is arrested, she often faces most of the punishment as her possessions and sometimes even home are taken away. One group of individuals who are NOT disproportionately affected by the war on drugs are law enforcement officials. There is an incredible amount of corruption in the criminal justice system, lOMoARcPSD|23780900 something that only serves to help law enforcement agencies. Examples of corruption include law enforcement officers protecting and assisting each other with criminal activities as well taking items from individuals who have not been arrested and keeping the proceeds for their department, a concept that is similar to blatantly pocketing money from drug dealers. 3. Using reputable internet and book sources, define/explain drug use, substance use disorder, drug tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, overdose. (e.g., http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-addiction/DS00183) a. Drug use: the use of substances for their psychoactive effects despite serious health, social, and legal consequences. Drugs are often used recreationally in the hopes that the user will experience a high, but can move into a different territory when they begin to need the drug to complete everyday tasks. b. Substance use disorder: a disease that affects a person's brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medication. Substance use disorder involves the use of drugs or medication illegally, but it crosses the line between recreational use, “for fun,” and necessity. Without the use of drugs, individuals suffering from this disorder would likely experience withdrawal symptoms. As well as this, the use of drugs will begin to impede on everyday experiences such as going to work or school, or engaging in social interactions. c. Drug tolerance: Drug tolerance occurs when an individual’s body becomes accustomed to the use of drugs, and the user needs to increase a drug’s intake in order to attain the original effects. lOMoARcPSD|23780900 d. Withdrawal symptoms: Withdrawal symptoms are a set of physical effects that are produced by discontinuing the use of a drug after continued use. Symptoms can include seizures, anxiety, hallucinations, vomiting, insomnia, depression, mental fog, and many more. These symptoms occur because the body can no longer properly function without the presence of the desired drug in the system and homeostasis is broken. e. Overdose: Overdose occurs when a toxic amount of a drug or mixture of drugs overwhelms the body, causing it to shut down. When there is too much of a drug in the body, the receptors that would normally respond to its presence become flooded and blocked, meaning that they are unable to perform other functions. This leads to the shutdown of the body and can cause death if it is not responded to quickly enough. Essentially, the body is overworked to the point of exhaustion. 4. Explain how the authors challenge the myths about heroin (naloxone will increase addiction), cocaine/crack (fear of prenatal use of cocaine on babies; cocaine is addictive) and marijuana (as a gateway drug, as more harmful than other drugs on lower schedules). a. The authors point out the fact that drug addiction is a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment, something that many of the proposed “fixes” discussed do not offer. When an addict uses naloxone to treat heroin addiction, the naloxone blocks the receptors in the brain that would usually take in the heroin. Many states have passed laws that require firefighters, police officers, EMTs, and other emergency personnel to carry naloxone at all times in case of emergency. This can actually cause heroin usage rates to rise because users feel that naloxone is something they can fall back on, and are less afraid of abusing heroin. In the case lOMoARcPSD|23780900 of cocaine, the authors argue that there was actually a recent study that concluded cocaine was safe. While many believe cocaine is extremely dangerous and immediately lethal, its use dates back thousands of years to indigenous tribes in the Andes Mountains. However, with crack cocaine becoming more widely available, deaths have also risen. Additionally, while the media has asserted that cocaine is something toxic and detrimental to prenatal babies and pregnant mothers, a study found that babies who were born to mothers who were addicted to cocaine during pregnancy had no differences in intelligent, emotional development, and achievement when compared to babies born to non-addicted mothers. This challenges the idea of “crack babies” that has been heavily portrayed in the media which arose due to the publishing of studies that contained extreme methodological issues. Marijuana is widely viewed as an addictive gateway drug, when in reality only 10% of users become dependent, in comparison to 32% of tobacco users and 15% of alcohol consumers. Adversely to the myth that marijuana is a gateway drug, evidence suggests that the drug can actually help users decrease their use and wean off of more harmful drugs. Additionally, the criminalization of marijuana was not based on scientific proof but rather politics and racial prejudice. Lastly, there is no evidence for physical, biochemical, or mental abnormalities that can be attributed to marijuana users and there have been no reported deaths that were caused by marijuana alone. 5. Explain why the authors are concerned about legal drug use. a. The authors are concerned about legal drug use because the deaths of legal drug use has surpassed the deaths attributed to illegal drug use. The mixture of legal lOMoARcPSD|23780900 drugs is actually far more dangerous than single substance use. One example of this is the use of benzodiazepines, legal prescription drugs used to target anxiety, when mixed with other drugs such as alcohol or prescription pain reliever. This is a serious combination, and can be fatal. However, all of these are legal drugs. Additionally, prescription painkillers are a huge problem and are often abused, especially as they have become more accessible through drug marketing and physician overprescribing. 6. Reflection a. discuss one new thing you learned i. One thing I learned from this reading is that marijuana is actually considered an exit drug. I have always been told that this drug is dangerous and can lead to increased use of riskier drugs, when in reality it is the opposite. However, marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I drug alone with heroin, ecstasy, and LSD. b. discuss one thing you are still trying to understand i. One thing I’m still trying to understand is why heroin and cocaine are not being highlighted as beneficial if there are ways to safely use it that can improve a person’s quality of life. If these drugs are going to be used either way, it would make sense for the beneficial uses to be discussed so that users can understand how to safely use them. c. your reaction to what you learned in this reading. i. I thought this reading was particularly interesting considering that I am a college student who is being exposed to many of these myths on a daily lOMoARcPSD|23780900 basis. Although I still do not support the use of recreational drugs, I now understand that there can be many medical uses and that the effects of drug use are not always negative.