America s Drug Enforcement And Addiction - 1725 Words

It might seem like the United States has become more lenient on drug enforcement and addiction. Considering that municipalities removed penalties for bringing in someone overdoing on drugs into the emergency room and have lowered the minimum amount of time someone spends in prison for drug possession. However, I argue these changes are motivated by the changing face of heroin or its increasing use among the white suburban middle class. For instance, more social resources have been allocated to today’s Heroin epidemic compared to harsh crime laws issued in the 1990’s used to combat the Drug War. One can argue that the United States has taken steps to improve the treatment of drug users, but this overlooks the fact that there is an†¦show more content†¦(Fernandez) This resulted in increasing instances of racially segregated neighborhoods and aggravated Urban decay in Inner city neighborhoods. Although disenfranchisement in the South may not fully explain why drug addiction marginalizes racial minorities, it is key to explaining why African Americans and other minorities were subject to harsher penalties during 1990’s. The War on Drugs was declared In the 1980’s and 90’s, the United States was going through a War on Drugs. â€Å"The carceral effects of the New Democrats’ competition with the Republicans vastly increased the ranks of the incarcerated. State and federal prisons imprisoned more people under Clinton’s watch than under any previous administration.† (Murch) The Clinton administration took a different approach to what its republican predecessors did. It included The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 which introduced harsher penalties for drug trafficking and violent and escalated the Drug War. The bill included provisions such as: â€Å"†¦including a three strikes mandatory life sentence for repeat offenders, money to hire 100,000 new police officers, $9.7bn in funding for prisons, and an expansion of death penalty-eligible offences. It also dedicated $6.1bn to prevention [programs] designed with significant input from experienced police officers, however, the bulk of the funds were dedicated to measures that are seen as punitive rather than rehabilitative or preventative.† (BBC)Show MoreRelatedLaw Enforcement : The United States Essay1595 Words   |  7 PagesWe the People Law enforcement was designed in the early 1800’s by a man named Robert Peal, which is why cops are sometimes referred to as Bobbies in England; designing an organization of law enforcement that would protect people from harming other people (Christ). This was the model that we based our western law enforcement agencies on, until prohibition became a federal task in the 1920’s. 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