Utopia: Drug laws, treatment and drug user's reinsertion into division of labor - Term Paper Example

?Running Head: UTOPIA: DRUG LAWS, TREATMENT Utopia: Drug Laws, Treatment and Drug User's Reinsertion into Division of Labor Utopia:Drug Laws, Treatment and Drug User's Reinsertion into Division of Labor Introduction The ‘drug war’ in the United States has been an abysmal failure. Vices cannot be regulated through denial of their use which is something that was discovered during prohibition. The reasons for drug use and the reason that it continues to be illegal are many. However, as a control for the poor it is an exceptionally good tool in order to enforce incarceration at the discretion of judges and to target minorities for punishments that are unreasonable. The idea of illegal drug use is in itself biased. As an example, white cocaine which is traditionally associated with white collar workers carries far less penalties than crack cocaine which is a typical drug for those from disadvantaged neighborhoods. A utopian society would accept that escapism through drug use is going to happen and utilize the law to create controls for the use and the industry surrounding the use while putting all of the money put into aggressive law enforcement into both education and treatment in a supportive and less combative environment. Unfortunately, the United States is far from utopian and the political points that are made about drug use are by people who are not aware of the truth about the problems of drug abuse and instead stick to propaganda rather than a direct plan of intervention to decrease the number of users and reintegrate them into mainstream society. Drug Users and Stereotypes There are ways in which society views drug user and those incarcerated for drug use and the people who actually are users and may experience jail for the abuse they do to their bodies. Moore and Elkovich (2008) discuss the issue of drug use and the discrepancies that occur between the health care sector and the judicial sector. One of the first glaring discrepancies is that drug use in middle and upper class areas is rampant, but it is largely ignored while drug use in disadvantaged areas is subject to continually and cycling arrests without the use of medical intervention as a way of addressing the subject. Profiling occurs in areas where there are minorities but in the suburbs there is no standard ‘user’ to identify so the use goes largely unnoticed. The surprising statistic is that drug use among Blacks is at about 7.4% with White users being at about 7.2, a relatively insignificant difference. Latinos use drugs at a lower rate than white users at 6.4 %. White users compose about 72% of the whole population of drug users with 15% of the share being attributed to use by Black populations. Moore and Elkovich (2008) write that “Whites were nearly 5 times more likely than are Blacks to use marijuana and were 3 times more likely than Blacks to have ever used crack” (p. 783). Whites are the more common users of drugs according to these statistics. Prison On the other hand, people who are non-white make up over 60% of the population in prisons. Moore and Elkovich (2008) write that 62.6 of the offenders in prison for drug charges were Black. The rate of people placed in prison for drug use is 13 times more for Blacks than for Whites. Blacks are more likely to be arrested for being high or intoxicated than are Whites, leaving them persecuted and treated unfairly. The prison system ends up damaging families, creating rifts and gaps between adults and children as the issue of visiting becomes one that is problematic both on a pragmatic level through transportation and through a cultural level as people tend to drift away from those lost to the prison system. Fellnor et al (2003) discuss the nature of the incarcerated. Mental illness is often a consequence of being in prison as much as it is a cause of drug and alcohol abuse. Community and Dynamics In 2003 the spending on drug enforcement was 11 billion which rose to 12 billion on the federal level with the state level bloating to 30 billion for the ‘war on drugs’. Of the two million who are spending time in prison, three quarters of them are there on non-violent charges mostly associated with the drug trade or drug use (Moore & Elkovich, 2008, p. 784). Therefore, the nature of prison is to detain and remove members of a community in order to disrupt the development of family and leadership, creating periodic gaps that keep the community in a state of constant change. No one can be depended on to be around for very long in communities where incarceration is common. Bourgois (2003) writes a sociological study about his experiences within a community where crack sales were some of the common industries. His friendship with the unofficial leader of the community was defined by that leader, who is called Ray, allowing him to participate in their community. Ray is intelligent, but illiterate, and portrayed in a very stereotypical way as a crime lord on a small scale whose fellow criminals all actively and openly act as members of the community in order to provide protection and leadership. The irony of their position is that it is a reaction to not being included in the mainstream and as outlaw, the community must find alternative solutions to the security of their homes. One of the moments that were significant for Bourgois (2003) was that during the writing of the book he accidently betrayed to his group that the leader Ray was illiterate. This placed a rift between Bourgois and Ray, creating a problem with his ability to fully participate in the community and get into the interior confidence of those he was studying. Eventually, after several months, Ray forgave Bourgois and through asking him in a loud voice about the progress of the book, he gave Bourgois back his status within the community. The point of the experience was that within the community rules had been set about hierarchies and the leader of that community had to give permission for what was going on his region. Moore and Elkovich (2008) discuss these problems in terms of keeping this community outside of the mainstream, thus through their insular and isolated nature becoming divorced from the democratic process. The region was ruled through a sense of dictatorship provided by Ray. The dependency that developed on a leader that was outside of the law is necessary for these disenfranchised groups so that they can develop their own resources when mainstream resources are not available in these groups. Exclusion is not only a system of isolating communities, but is also a system of isolating individuals. Nicholson (2005) examines the nature of high school exclusion for drug use, suspension rather than treatment being the first response made by students. Drug use is looked at as the problem rather than a symptom so students are criminalized for their use of drugs and alcohol through punishment rather than the first response having to do with addressing the reasons that drug use has been a choice for the student. Rather than recognizing that their use is a symptom of a greater ill, they are excluded from the educational process and isolated which can only lead to more drug abuse. The only real way for children who have drug problems to create community is through the same efforts made by adults in disenfranchised neighborhoods. They create their own worlds through which success and failure is seen on different terms than in mainstream society. The development of community is so important that when certain members of a society are pushed out because of their like habits or rituals, they will form their own society. This is the case with students who are categorized as drug users and disassociated from the normal school system. Children and adults will seek leadership and purpose and if they are outside of the mainstream they will have a reason to build their own communities. The biggest problem with these communities is that they become isolated, dictated by other forms of leadership than democratic, and will use violence as a resource because they have no reason to avoid the ease with which compliance can be gained through the use of violence. A community that is outside of the mainstream will have no reason to comply to law and the rules of mainstream society will no longer apply. The Work Force When men and women are incarcerated they are bled from the workforce, leaving gaps in communities (Moore and Elkovich, 2008). One of the reasons that this is a desirable state is that the numbers of jobs that are available have decreased significantly. Bourgois (2003) writes that people in the Puerto Rican communities where he did most of his research work hard. The image of the drug user living off of the state and not interested in working is a myth. Most of the people he was in contact with had gotten jobs at the age of twelve bagging groceries or some other job that a twelve year old can get, but by the time they grow to their late teens or early twenties it becomes clear that there are few jobs available, especially when compared to the level of education they were offered during their childhood. Factory jobs and other blue collar jobs are becoming scarcer so in order to survive, the disenfranchised who have already determined that they are not part of the mainstream, have no problem with turning to illegal means to survive. This can mean selling and dealing with drugs. The fact is that there has been a restructuring of jobs with a focus on white-collar, high-rise work that is mostly focused on the financial industry. Bourgois (2003) writes that “Obedience to the norms of high-rise, office corridor culture is in direct contradiction to street cultures’ definitions of personal dignity – especially for males who are socialized not to accept public subordination” (p. 115). Compliance with the mainstream is almost as impossible as developing methods of survival that do not include the sale of drugs. There is a misunderstanding that occurs about the sale of drugs. Selling drugs is no easier than selling any other commodity. It takes work. People in disenfranchised neighborhoods where the drug trade has taken over as a way of life still work very hard to make their businesses work, just like any other industry. It takes skills to make the drugs, time to package it, efforts to broker deals, and sellers to put in the time to engage the consumer of drugs. Selling drugs does not mean that someone is unwilling to work. It may mean that they have been excluded from the mainstream or it may mean that they have rejected the forms of employment available and this business is what works for the way in which they perceive their abilities to survive. It may also exist because they have been indoctrinated into a culture where drug sales are the understood industry. Whatever the reason, a drug business requires work in order to create the product, package the product, and market it so that sellers can connect with buyers. The one constant is that people at low levels in the drug sales industry remain in poverty. Bourgois (2003) discusses their lives as a cycle of low paying jobs and low paying criminal enterprises. They worked in undesirable jobs from which they were usually fired which presented them an opportunity to show their resistance to the demeaning work that they would most likely return to eventually in the hopes that they could make that job the one that works. The hidden truth is that people really do want to work and to have independence. However, working an undesirable, possibly illegal job that is more legitimate than selling drugs never leads to a satisfying work experience. Purpose and meaning fly out of the experience of working and eventually self-sabotage with the intention of celebrating their independence eventually wins over. Utopia The first way in which to fix the social problems that are related to drug problems is to change the educational system so that it is more student-oriented in relationship to curing social problems that are plaguing their young lives. This means having institutions that are more engaged in teaching real life survival skills rather than remote academics. It is not that academics are not important, but the skills to work, to be entrepreneurs, to develops social skills that are crucial to work relationships, and to develop a sense of hope are far more important than learning algebra. When dad is in jail and mom is never home because she works two jobs, students need to understand how they have a place in society rather than disassociating them through teaching them things that have no relevance in their lives. Education is the key to creating healthy children who can move forward and be more productive. Through teaching students about the world that exists within mainstream society and helping them to find a place within it children can learn to abandon hierarchical societies that keep them oppressed, making them live under minor dictators and suppressing their abilities to the point that they waste what could be amazing lives. Creating institutional help for children who live in disenfranchised neighborhoods means literally holding their hands all the way through their educational experience to the point of personalized attention to their individual problems that are causing them to be repressed and to not succeed. How is this paid for by society? Drugs should be legalized. The first thing this does is to empty the prisons and to place people back into their families so that they can find treatment and become a functioning part of society. This will take a great deal of social work in order to both integrate them into the system and to provide them with a place in society through the creation of jobs. Jobs in the United States can be created through developing the infrastructure, creating large scale government projects, and creating jobs through the need for human capital in order to provide a technologically advanced society. The question still remains, how is this paid for by the public? By legalizing drugs, the need for the ‘war on drugs’ is eliminated and the costs of law enforcement decreases dramatically. The DEA is no longer necessary and the 12 billion plus dollars that the government spends on law enforcement for drugs and the 30 billion dollars plus spent by the states all goes towards treatment and educational programs which would be infinitely cheaper. In addition the need for drugs as a way to escape decreases because the jobs that are created are suddenly increasing the self actualization of people as they find purpose through work and through the availability of disposable income. Will it be perfect? There is an argument that human beings cannot suffer perfection and must always find challenges. The challenges that will be presented will be more productive because society will be a project in progress with people working towards common goals. Treatment and social improvement is another aspect of this plan. Without valid treatment, those who do go on drugs cannot be brought into the mainstream of society. Drug treatment should be a public practice in order to create productive members of communities rather than disenfranchising them from society and shutting them out, further stigmatizing them and placing them outside of the accomplishments that this great society has set as goals. It is not that there will be no one using drugs; it is that there will be fewer people using drugs and that there will be no one languishing in a prison for the abuse of their own bodies. Drugs are not a good thing, but simply denying them is not an answer. Control never comes from denying the existence of something. It comes from engaging something and creating controls and regulations over it. Governmental regulations on the production and distribution of drugs means being able to tax the products, track who is using, control what employment they can get, and to make sure that when they are ready there is treatment available so that they can become a member of society once more. The type of control would not be oppressive, except maybe for the taxes put on the products, but would be intended to discourage use, but allow it as a choice. People will more often make the right choice when they know they have the choice. The temptation of doing something when it is illegal is as much a part of the process as is the reasons behind wanting to escape into a drug induced haze that clouds the real world. Conclusion The way in which drugs are handled in the United States is not working. The ‘war on drugs’ has been a failure and it is time to admit defeat and begin a new program that no longer criminalizes self abuse, but begins to educate people on how to not abuse themselves. Rather than spending money on incarceration and law enforcement, spending money on education and treatment would be necessary in order to minimize the number of people who seek drugs to cure their ills. Through developing a supportive society, people can find other ways to work on their problems than using drugs. The biggest key to smashing the drug businesses is in creating meaningful and well-paying jobs that can provide a purpose in the lives of those who are currently in disadvantaged and disenfranchised communities. Creating jobs means the nation improves through the projects that are developed and it means that more people have disposable income, increasing demand and further increasing industry. The development of this Utopia is a winning scenario for everyone involved. It means that the people are made healthier, the meaning of life shifts from self-abuse to self-actualization, and the nation increases in wealth and security. Resources Bourgois, P. I. (2003). In search of respect: Selling crack in El Barrio. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge University Press. Fellner, J. Abramsky, S., Saunders, J., & Ross, J. (2003). Ill-equipped: U.S. prisons and offenders with mental illness. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch. Moore, L. D. & Elkovich, A. (May 2008). Who’s using and who’s doing time: Incarceration, the war on drugs and public health. American Journal of Public Health. 98(5), 782-786. Nicholson, T. (2005). Academic achievement and behavior: An axiomatic link? In P. Clough (ed). Handbook of emotional & behavioural difficulties. London: SAGE. Read More