Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Decriminalization of drugs would benefit the United States in the long…

- - - - A7: " These data suggest that increased access to drug treatment, community mental health, and violence prevention programs may decrease suicidal behavior among young injection drug users."
    - - A8: Studies done by the Australian Treatment Outcome Study showed that 42% of heroin users attempted suicide.
      - A9: Another study showed that 39.3% of heroin users had actually attempted suicide.
      - A8: Suicide ideation and suicide remained a problems for heroin users for many years, some reached up to 20 years of struggling with suicide.
- - - - A 17: This is especially important for Americans, considering the fact that 94,678 people are in federal prisons for drug-related crimes, 99.9% of which is drug trafficking.
        
        A17: This accounts for 52% of the federal prison population
  - - - In virtually every category, Portugal has outperformed the vast majority of both EU and no-EU states in drug usage since decriminalization
      - This is especially true through the rate of cannibis. Marijuana, which has been on the rise in almost every other country, has begun to decrease in Portugal.
        
        EU rate: 25% Portuguese rate: 8.2%.
      - Cocaine rates among students have also seen significant decline.
        
        EU rate: 4% Portuguese rate: 1.6%
    - - 13-15 years old: decreased form 14.1% to 10.6% in 2006
      - 16-18 years old: decreased from 27.6% in 2001 to 21.6% in 2006.
      - Worth noting: a 2008 study that took place in 17 different countries showed that these adolescent years are the key to determining future, lifelong use.
      - In almost every category, lifetime prevalence rates in pre-decriminalization era of the 1980s were higher than the post-decrminalization rates
    - - Use of cocaine in the US: 16.2%
      - Use of Cannabis in US: 42.4%
- - - - A5: This is a list of just some of the people who passed background checks, and then proceeded to kill multiple people.
        
        Oregon campus shooter Chris Harper-Mercer
        
        Roanoke, VA shooter Vester Flanagan
        
        Colorado theater shooter James Holmes
- - - - A6: This included heroine prescribing especially because their main method of treatment through methadone was creating people who were resistant (16-24%), and many premature dropouts due to fear of arrest (23%-35%)
  - - - Prescribing heroin will lead to never ending dose increases with high risks
      - Addicts will remain forever in heroin-assisted treatment, dependence will be prolonged, and recovery not possible
      - The image of heroin will become positive when prescribed, and young people will be more inclined to use it.
      - Other treatment approaches will no longer be acceptable to addicts, will be neglected, or will disappear.
      - Prescribed heroin will be diverted into the illegal drug market.
    - - Absolutely none of these concerns were substantiated by the outcome results of 15 case studies.
      - The substance, patient, and service related results were published in extreme detail, and all of the findings were positive, documenting the feasibility of the program, implementation, positive change in patients, safety of medication, and absence of major negative effects.
      - Individual heroin doses did not steadily increase, but were stabilized after 2-3 months after entering treatment.
      - Addicts did not remain forever in heroin-assisted treatment. Far fewer than half the patients remained for 3 years or longer.
      - The image of heroin did not become positive, and the incidence of new heroin users has declined almost every year since 1991.
      - Other treatment approaches actually have increased since the 1990s.
      - 5; Prescribed heroin was not diverted into the black market, and this was confirmed by police reports.
- - - - The idea that this is a matter of the seriousness of the offense is incredibly over-exaggerated. The only person that using drugs is serious to, is the user him/herself.
      - Also, mandatory minimums do not provide just punishment for offenses. Having a gram of Marijuana can put you in jail for up to four years in some states. In addition to putting them in jail, you are essentially tanking their futures, because it is well known that anyone with a criminal record has a much smaller chance of getting a job than a non-offending person. There is no argument that can be made to justify destroying someone's future and calling it a 'just punishment.'
        
        A3: As many as 50% of all drug related arrests are associated with no other crimes.
        
        A17: 35% of drug offenders in federal prisons had no or negligible criminal history.
    - - A1: If this was designed as a way to deter people from committing crimes, it failed horribly. Currently, roughly 42.4% of the population has used Marijuana, and that number has consistently been on the rise.
      - A16: Studies have shown that the idea of greater prison sentences stops people from re-offending, has been proven wrong. Greater prison sentences have absolutely no effect on recidivism, which is the probability of someone re-offending.
      - A14: Since mandatory minimums, federal prison population has grown by 400%, and we are seeing no clear decline.
      - A16: State prison populations increased by over 700% since the introduction of mandatory minimums.
      - A16: Within 5 years of release, 77% of former prisoners were rearrested for a felony and 55% were re-convicted of a new felony.
    - - This idea would only apply to two aspects: drug trafficking, and driving under the influence. Simply using drugs has no effect on the public.
      - Also, prohibition of drugs has the same effect as prohibition of alcohol.
        
        A12: In order to run a successful drug trafficking business, drug potency skyrocketed to store more in a smaller area, and prices plummeted, thus giving more access to low-income families.
        
        A5: We have outlawed a multi-billion dollar market, and expected no negative repercussions when we gave it no access to legal methods of resolving conflict.
    - - Of all the reasons on this list, this one fails the most.
        
        A12: The California state prisons are a prime example of what a health crisis looks like in prison. Prisoners suffer from high rates of mental illness, HIV, toberculosis, and other infectious diseases, along with increased tendency towards violence.
        
        A12: Incarceration increases the risk of exposure to HIV partners and children of incarcerated persons.
        
        A12: "The challenges that lead a person to prison--drug addiction, alcoholism, untreated mental illness, lack of employment opportunities--are not abated by incarceration; they are often worsened."
        
        A19: On the point of lost job opportunities, adults who are unemployed are much more likely (18.2%) to use drugs than adults who are employed (9.1).
        
        A12: Past felons are also prohibited from using government assistance, such as public housing and federal financial aid to attend college.
        
        A19: this just makes the problem worse, considering those without a college education are more likely (10.8%) than those who have a college education (6.7%) to use drugs.
  - - - Cocaine:
        
        A12: White people are 3x more likely to have used crack.
        
        A17: In federal prisons, black people make up 88% of the cocaine offending population.
      - Populations and proportions:
        
        A12: The rates of illicit drug use are about the same between blacks (7.4%) and whites (7.2%).
        
        The number of white drug users clearly outweighs black drug users, due to different populations. Whites compose 72% of all illicit drug users, compared to 15% of illicit drug users being black.
        
        A12: Black people compose 60% of the drug offending population.
        
        A12: The rate of black people admitted to prison is 13x that of white men, and in ten states, those rates can skyrocket to 26 to 57x.
      - A16: Locking people up increases their chances of recommitting a crime, therefore causing a never ending loop for African Americans.
  - - - A15: Boredom and lack of activity consistently causes feelings of anger, frustration, stress, idleness, apathy and boredom.
        
        A15: Isolation and boredom in particular propel prisoners to pursue escape, often adopting such harmful behaviors as illicit drug use which leads to addiction, overeating, and increases in smoking and psychotropic medication.
        
        A15: For those without mental illness, prisons may lead to isolative behaviors and subsequent development of psychotic illness.
    - - A15: Nearly half of the male prison population felt a major loss of control in external and family events, which led to such outcomes as remorse, paranoia, and hypersensitivity. Hypersensitivity was also established as a prerequisite for violent and aggressive behavior.
      - A15: The vast majority of prisoners found it near impossible to stay in close contact with their families, due to high demand and low supply of telephones. This disconnection causes trauma, a sense of fear, worry, and anxiety.
    - - A15: The prison system is a very oppressive regime that monitors prisoners day and night. This overbearing control creates problems of insomnia, depression, paranoia, suicidal idealization, sadness, irritability, and anger.
      - A15: In all studies done in prisons, loss of autonomy was always documented. This removal of decision making in all sorts of areas, such as self-care fostered climates of psychological dependence, which typically led to drug use later in life.
    - - Overcrowding has created huge problems for mental health
        
        A15: It has lead to emotional instability, psychological disturbance, social dislocation, and an increase in the risk of suicides in prison.
        
        A15: Nearly half the women in prison met requirements for PTSD, and 90% had a severely traumatic event.
      - A15: Overcrowding leads to a major reduction in the availability of jobs and education in prison, which further leads to a decrease in mental health.
      - Overcrowding is a direct result of the criminalization of drugs.
        
        A17: 94,678 people are in federal prison for drug-related crime, which accounts for roughly 52% of the federal prison population.
        
        A18: 30 million arrests were made for drug crimes from 1993 to 2011, 24 million of which were for possession only.
        
        A16: Since the introduction of mandatory minimums for drug crimes, prison populations have increased by over 700% from 1972-2011.
        
        A13: More than 30% of our current state prison population is due to drug crimes of some sort.
        
        A3: Marijuana, Cocaine, and Heroin offenses account for an extreme 24.7% of all felony convictions nationwide.