Addictions Millions of people across the world are addicted to drugs and other substances such as alcohol.

Addictions

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Millions of people across the world are addicted to drugs and other substances such as alcohol. While persons of legal age can purchase and consume alcohol freely, drugs are prohibited under the law, and anyone caught in possession of even the smallest amounts of drugs is likely to spend some time in jail. In the United States, the majority of drug addicts and drug-associated offenders belong to minority groups, and this has led to oppression of drug addicts without a real solution in sight. Drug addicts are sent to prison and punished in other ways that have led to an exacerbation of the problem rather than a practical solution. The United States has millions of people incarcerated in its prisons and jails across the country, and the majority of these are due to drug-related charges. The criminal justice system and the legislature have been slow to address the drug addiction pandemic, and they would rather maintain the status quo. This paper will examine the statistics on drug addiction in the United States, the factors contributing to the growing pandemic, the oppression of drug addicts and how this has affected their lives.

Statistics

The American Addiction Centers website provides an analysis of valuable statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) on drugs and substance addiction. In the year 2017, 19.7 million Americans 12 years and older struggled with substance abuse. Substance abuse has a high correlation with alcohol abuse, as 74% of those battling substance abuse also struggles with alcohol use disorder. One in every eight Americans battled both alcohol and substance abuse disorders in the year 2017. These numbers are a cause for concern because it is a widespread problem affecting people of all ages and other demographics. The NSDUH also reported that alcohol and substance abuse is highly related to mental health disorders, as 8.5 million Americans experienced the two issues concurrently in 2017 (Thomas 2020).

The United States pursues a prohibitionist stance when it comes to drugs, meaning that persons caught selling or in possession of drugs face criminal charges. By the year 2015, arrests for drug charges averaged 1.3 million annually. 20% of all persons incarcerated in the country’s prions are serving time for drug-related charges, and an additional 1.15 million are on parole and probation for drug-related offences (Thomas 2020). Drug addicts have been the biggest casualties in the war against drugs, which the country has lost on all fronts. In discussing drug addiction, race plays a crucial role, especially when it comes to minority groups, specifically African-Americans. The African-American population accounts for 12.5 percent of substances users in the country, yet they make up thirty percent of all arrests related to drug charges. These high levels have had no effect on substance abuse and addiction numbers which have been on the rise over the years. Black Americans are on average six times more likely to be jailed for drug-related charges as compared to their white counterparts, even with similar charges levelled against them. On average, sixty percent of those serving time for drug-related offences in state prisons are people of colour. This number is even higher in federal prisons, where 80% of persons jailed for drug offenders are either black or Latino. These numbers shed light on the disproportionate effects of the war on drugs on minority groups in the United States.

The systematic oppression of minority groups such as Latinos and African-Americans concerning the issue of drug and substance addiction is due in most part to the criminal justice system, the law-making organs, and law enforcement bodies in the country. Officers have systematically pursued persons of colour in their fight against drugs, and the law supports this. Law enforcement officers are permitted under the law to stop and search any vehicle for drugs, and officers apply this law mainly on persons of colour. Additionally, the criminal justice system has contributed to the oppression of people of colour in drug addiction by handing them disproportionate jail terms. For example, a black defendant in the federal system convicted of a minor drug offence will likely serve the same amount of time (58.7 months) as a white individual convicted of violent crime (61.7 months). Prosecutors also fight for mandatory minimum sentences for black defendants more than white ones, and this has resulted in people of colour accounting for 70% of all mandatory minimum sentences (Thomas 2020). Policymakers at different levels of government have consistently applied harsher laws, especially for low-level drug offences, and this has oppressed many drug addicts.

Theory

The systems theory is the best theory that can be used to explain how the issue of drug and substance addiction is created and maintained. The systems theory asserts that a person’s behaviour is significantly influenced by various factors that work as a system. When it comes to addicts, these factors include family, community, schools, economic class and the government. A majority of addicts develop their problems due to social environments such as peers and family. For example, a child born to addict parents or one who spends a lot of time with addict peers is more likely to become addicts themselves. Addicts could also turn to drugs and other substances to deal with problems in their lives such as poverty, violence, family problems, among others. This translates into an endless cycle of addiction. Addicts are often shunned by their family and community because they are seen as criminals and irresponsible individuals. This sends them deeper and deeper into addiction, and they may turn to criminal activities such as dealing drugs. They will then be arrested by law enforcement officers and sent to the criminal justice system, which puts them in prison. Their addiction is never cause for concern at any point within the system; instead they are vilified and shunned by all parties.

Historical Background

The historical problem that led to the oppression of addicts is the growing use of drugs that prompted President Nixon to declare war on drugs in 1971. different arms of government worked together to fight against the drug menace fast growing across the country, seeing prohibition as the best way to eliminate the consumption and production of drugs in the country. Drugs then became a law enforcement issue rather than the public health issue. Addiction has been a significant problem over the past few decades for various reasons. One of these reasons is that it has encouraged the illicit trade of drugs which has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry globally. Drug and substance addiction has ruined the lives of millions, leading to loss of employment, imprisonment, addiction, physical and mental health problems, and even death (Fellner 2009). Unfortunately, the war on drugs has disproportionately affected minority groups in the country. Although drug addiction affects all parts of the US population, minority groups make up the majority of those incarcerated for drug-related offences.

Life for drug addicts before the oppression was better than it is. For example, laws against minor drug offences such as possession of little amounts of marijuana were less strict. As the years have gone by, the laws have become stricter, and even minor offences get significant jail times. However, President Nixon implemented several draconian laws on drugs that proved oppressive. One of these was the mandatory sentencing laws that require any person arrested on drug offences be given some mandatory minimum sentence. Federal drug agencies control and presence was also drastically increased to improve surveillance and arrest of drug offenders. Since the oppression began, the number of drug-related arrests per year has been growing exponentially, tripling since the 1980s (Provine 2011). The number of arrests from drug possession is six times those from drug sales. The oppression of drug addicts has only grown since the introduction of oppressive drug policies in the 1970s and 1980s. For example, more people have been sentenced to longer jail terms, and the majority of those incarcerated for drug-related charges are from minority groups (Wyatt-Nichol & Seabrook 2016). The macro-component of oppression has also widened its oppressive efforts. Those imprisoned for non-violent drug charges now serve longer prison sentences as public prosecutors fight for mandatory minimum sentences, and judges rule in their favour. The Center for America Progress reports on the unfairness of the justice system to minorities in the war against drugs. For example, African-Americans are four times more likely to be arrested and serve longer jail terms for marijuana possession, than their white peers under similar charges.

Analysis

The macro-components keeping the oppressed population in their current system is law enforcement, the justice system, and drugs policymakers. Law enforcement has been consistent in their unfair bias against communities of colour in the fights against drugs (Fellner 2009). Officers arrest such persons even on the most minor charges, rather than implementing other interventions such as diverting drug users to social services . The justice system is similarly discriminatory to minority groups in the war on drugs. Drug addiction affects all demographics in the country, but users from minority groups have been the largest group of victims in the effort to fight drugs and drug abuse. They are often sentenced to longer terms for similar offences as others. Policymakers on the issues of drugs have also contributed to oppression because they continue to such prohibitionist policies that unfairly target addicts and users from minority groups (Wyatt-Nichol & Seabrook 2016). There are specific factors that encourage these macro-components to maintain status quo in the oppression of drug addicts, specifically those from minority groups. For law enforcement, the primary motivation for oppression is financial. Officers who make more arrests get more overtime pay and this coupled with their historical bias against persons of colour leads to the arrest of more addicts. The judiciary also has similar biases against offenders from minority groups, fanned by pressure from the prosecution and other public bodies.

These macro-component practices affect drug addicts, their families and communities. Addicts sent to jail suffer from even more problems while incarcerated and later when released. They do not get the medical help they need to tackle their addiction, and when they get out of prions, they simply go back to their old ways. After prions, they find it hard to get employment and face discrimination in other social fronts. Their families suffer when their breadwinner goes to jail, and they are left without an income (Coyne, & Hall 2017). This loss of wages could drive such a family into poverty. Additionally, such families face stigma from their society for having addict members. Communities also suffer when addicts get arrested or go to jail because they lose some productive members, and the root causes of addiction also fail to be addressed, which would benefit more members of the community.

The macro-component is quite effective at oppressing addicts from minority groups as the system is biased against such addicts, right from officers carrying out arrests and providing evidence, prosecutors seeking longer and harsher sentences, to judges who eventually sentence the offenders. The macro-component is funded through government mechanisms that allocate billions of dollars to the fight against drugs each year. There is significant social awareness surrounding the oppressive capacity of these macro-components in the war on drugs, spread by statistics from organizations such as the Drug Policy Alliance and documentaries such as ‘The House I Live In’, ‘The War on Drugs’ and others focusing on the failed war on drugs (Gray 2010).

Addiction should be addressed at different micro and macro levels such as family, community and institutional levels. At the family level, an effective social work strategy is to encourage family members, especially parents and guardians, to be on the look-out for early signs of substance abuse and addiction. Most of them are clueless about the problem until it gets out of hand. Social workers should educate families on some things to look out for such as truancy, change in behaviour, and lack of concentration, irritability and withdrawal, especially in young people. Families should also be educated on the resources available to addicts and those struggling with substance abuse (Rolles 2010). These social work strategies at the family level also apply at the community level such as schools, churches and neighbourhoods so that people can look out for their neighbours and others in the community. At the institutional level, some social work strategies include engaging with leadership such as college administration to increase awareness on dangers of drug and substance abuse, offering counselling services and spreading information on services available to those struggling with such problems. When it comes to the macro component of oppression, these should be policy changes and anti-bias training for the relevant bodies. For example, law enforcement officers should be given anti-bias training to address issues of bias against minority groups, as well as alternative ways of dealing with petty, non-violent offenders. The Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program is an effective solution where officers refer minor offenders to treatment and social programs rather than arresting them (Fellner 2009).

Reducing oppression and increasing cultural diversity contribute to social equality. Most of the victims in the war on drugs are minorities affected by poverty, unemployment and illiteracy. Doing away with oppressive policies against them will promote social equality as they get fair and equal treatment, as well as the help they need for addiction. Addressing the actions of the macro components in promoting oppression will promote the rights and entitlements of the oppressed. All sick people have the right to get treatment, and this applies to addicts. Doing away with Oppressive policies such as harsh and long sentences promote the rights of the addicts. When such people get the help they need, they can lead productive lives, get employed and earn an income and improve their social status in the community. Such events also give addicts, and their families improved quality of life as they get the treatment they need, allowing them to lead normal lives. Addicts and other low-level drug offenders will have a more positive interaction with the community once the oppressive mechanisms are eliminated. They no longer have to be treated like criminals but as people who need medical and social intervention, and this improves interactions with their community. These goals align with principles of social work such as acceptance, access to resources, and non-judgmental attitude.

In conclusion, addiction is a major problem in society today. Millions of people are addicted to drugs, alcohol and other substances. One of the major problems in tackling the issue of addiction is the oppressive policies and laws targeting drug users and other drug offenders. The oppressive organs in the system include the justice system, law enforcement and policymakers. People of colour make up the majority of those convicted for drug-related charges, and consistently receive disproportionately harsher sentences for their crimes compared to other demographics. The country should abandon its prohibitionist policies in favour of decriminalization and addressing the drugs pandemic as a public health issue. The war on drugs has failed on all fronts, punishing addicts for a health condition.

References

Coyne, C. J., & Hall, A. (2017). Four decades and counting: The continued failure of the war on drugs. Cato Institute Policy Analysis, (811).

Fellner, J. (2009). Race, drugs, and law enforcement in the United States. Stan. L. & Pol’y Rev., 20, 257.

Gray, J. (2010). Why our drug laws have failed: a judicial indictment of war on drugs. Temple University Press.

Provine, D. M. (2011). Race and inequality in the war on drugs. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 7, 41-60.

Rolles, S. (2010). An alternative to the war on drugs. Bmj, 341, c3360.

Thomas, S. (2020) Alcohol and Drug Abuse Statistics. American Addiction Centers. https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/addiction-statisticsWyatt-Nichol, H., & Seabrook, R. (2016). The ugly side of America: Institutional oppression and race.