Social Policy Analysis Research Paper

Introduction

A policy is a principle of action adopted by a nation or organization to cope with a matter that affects it. Social policy is, therefore, a plan of action that is used to ensure the well-being of the people in a nation. A social policy deals with matters such as the health of the citizens, the security of a country, public health, criminal justice among other issues that affect the population of a nation. In the United States, several social policies are still being used in the day to day life of the citizens. Among some of the common figures in policy making is William Jenning Bryan who is renowned for being the first political figure to incorporate a formal social policy into government decisions. This essay is a discussion of the Drug policy in the United States, its historical context, the effects that it has on the people, its strengths and weaknesses and some recommendations that may help improve the policy.

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Historical Context

In the past years, the United States has been riddled with the manufacture, trafficking and use of drugs by its citizens. There are certain periods in the history of the nation that were marked with excessive drug use leading to a peak where certain drugs were especially popular. In the eras between 1969 and 1971 for example, heroin had become one of the most popular drugs in the United States. During this period, the most cases of drug and substance abuse recorded any heroin addicts and traffickers and are marked as one of the most significant periods in the history of drug abuse (Loiselle & Whitehead, 1971). Cocaine was also reported to have a substantial peak season between 1987 and 1989. In the efforts to curb the use of certain drugs in the era, the government imposed a law that sentenced the drug traffickers and abusers to a jail sentence of a minimum of five to ten years in prison. As a result of this, the drug and substance abuse reduced significantly as the abusers feared the sentences. Among some of the most famous stages of drug prohibition begun in the early 1870s as the governments of those days tried to rid their ruling areas of the commonly abused drugs. An excellent example of such a case is the Opium ban in the Chinese localities and some anti-cocaine laws in that were passed between 1908 and 1914 (Musto, 2016). In addition to that, there were the anti-marijuana laws that were mainly implemented in Mexico.

In the 1960s, the use of drugs had set root in the country and was a sign of youthful rebellion and was a sign that the previous rules were not effective enough to fight the rate at which drugs were being abused nationwide. The realization of this led to the declaration of the fight against drugs in 1971 by President Richard Nixon. In his campaign in 1968, Nixon expressed the urge to fight against drugs and substance abuse. After he became president, he passed laws that enhanced mandatory sentencing for drug users, increased the number of drug control agencies and allowed the federal agents no-knock warrants so that they could flash out the offenders without breaking the law. He ignored the 1972 bill that wanted to decriminalize marijuana use all in the effort to curb the drug use. His efforts did not last long after the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter who passed the law that Nixon had rejected. As a result of this, the people became addicts at alarming levels which was worrying especially to most parents. After the end of Carter's era, the new President Ronald Reagan and his wife took to a fight against drug abuse and incarcerated the offenders of the laws. In the later years, the policy has been improved to avoid a lot of incarceration but help the willing addicts change over to a rehabilitated lifestyle. In recent cases, several attempts have been made to curtail the use of drugs. An excellent example is the building of the wall against Mexico by Donald Trump.

Implications of the Drug Policy

In the United States of America, the policy is mainly aimed at protecting the society from the use of drugs. The method used to do this is the incarceration of those who are involved in drug and substance abuse. The American justice system is not a rehabilitative one. Instead of trying to reform the abusers, the nation cuts them away from the rest of the community by keeping them in federal facilities until they finish their sentence after which they are released to the society. The method is helpful since many people will fear the punishment that comes if one is convicted of the offense. The fear to be punished helps keep the users in hiding and avoids the spread of drug abuse. The act is essential in the protection of the general public. Moreover, the drug policy serves to limit the use of drugs only to crucial issues such as medication. An excellent example of such a claim is the policy allowance on medical cannabis. The drug is used in the limiting of nausea especially to chemotherapy patients among other means in which the drug is helpful. Taking this into consideration, the drug policy allows the use of such drugs but only under limited circumstances. As a result of this, the drugs are allowed in some hospitals among other medical institutions. According to statistics, the federal drug agency had approved about 1453 drugs by December 2013 (Gaffney, 2014).

Strengths and Limitations of the Policy

Strengths

The policy is very beneficial in the war against drug and substance abuse. It is the best idea that the best way to curb the spread of a problem is by dealing with the cause of it. In keeping the drug traffickers in federal facilities, the country prevents the distribution of drugs. It also means that the rest of society has no means to access the drugs since those who sold them are kept locked up and have no means to continue with the business. As a result, the war against drugs is significantly improved.

Furthermore, the policy helps enhance the fear that the people have in going against the law. Considering the strict punishment that is likely to occur to any offender of the law, it is paramount that most of the people will fear being involved in it. In most cases, the people who are in the justice system ensure that the people do not get pardoned for the actions and with proper evidence of drug and substance abuse, the individuals serve the expected jail term. In comparison to the rehabilitative method of correction that exists in other countries. The rehabilitative method of correction has no aim to punish the offenders. Its primary objective as to make the people more acceptable in the community by changing their behavior. In most cases of this type of correction, the convicts can be pardoned if they show signs of improvement from their previous behavior (MacKenzie, 2006). This method indicates that people can be allowed to get away with the mistakes after they show any signs that they have changed. Due to this allowance, the criminals may not fear to get involved in the vices.

Also, the drug law subjects the offenders to corporal punishment and hard labor in the federal facilities that they are kept in. In considering the punishment that the people undergo during their terms in prison, it is hard that they revert to their previous crimes. The transformation helps in changing society. The current policy also takes clear measures depending on the offense that they have committed. In stating the punishment that the people who offend the law should face, the justice system has an easier time in deciding the sentence that they offer.

Demerits of the Policy

Despite the previous advantages that are associated with the current drug policy, there are several disadvantages that come as a result of it. First, the policy does not take into consideration the effects that may arise from the method of punishment that the people are undergoing. If for example, the convicted member did the act of selling drugs to sustain their family needs, the jailing of the person may mean that their dependents may face severe suffering after their breadwinner is jailed. It may also cut short the hopes of the dependents since the convict has to serve the complete jail sentence with no hope of pardon before the sentence is completed. In doing this, the drug policy may lead to unwanted suffering to some innocent victims.

In addition to that, the drug law does insist on separating the innocent from the convicted people. In doing this, the government spends a lot of income on the facilities used to keep the criminals. The money would have been put to other uses such as education or in the eradication of the poverty level (Clear & Frost, 2015). The money could also be used in the rehabilitation of the current addicts instead of secluding them from the rest of the population. In the case of rehabilitative correction, the main aim is to reform offenders instead of locking them up and punishing them for the mistakes they have committed. In this essence, people do not have to serve the whole term of punishment but can be released if they show significant improvement of behavior. In doing this, the government can minimize the number of facilities that are used in locking up convicts.

The method does not offer any training to the convicts while they are locked up. The result of lacking any training while in their prison sentences is that there is a high risk of the people are likely to revert back to crime after they are released. An excellent example is when the people who used to sell drugs are released, and they still need money to survive. They may face severe rejection from society due to their previous crimes and may find that they do not fit into the community. As a result, they may choose to do what they know best which is selling drugs again to earn a living. It is useless to punish someone for their mistakes and not offer them a guideline on how to change their life as it is in the rehabilitative treatment where the convicts are taught skills such as carpentry that help them after they are released. They also reduce the chances that the drug addicts may move to robbery or other social evils after they are released.

Recommendations

Basing on the above errors that have been identified with the drug policy, it is essential to ensure that the community is made better by curbing the war against drugs. In doing this, the drug policy should not only be aimed at punishment but rather to reduce the indulgence of new people into drug abuse. It should also offer a platform that will enable the current addicts and peddlers to change. Regarding this, the current drug policy should rehabilitate the patients and teach them new skills that will help them earn a living after they are released. Most of the people who are involved in drug trafficking may not, but due to problems such as poverty, they may lack a choice with their life which may lead to them indulging in the act. The situations that led a convicted offender into drug abuse or peddling.

The drug policy should also consider the dependents that the party under trial for drug possession has. In cases where the affected parties show sincerity in the motive for getting involved in the act, the court should find a way to change the person instead of punishing them for the mistakes which they had no alternative about. They should be offered with smaller sentences and then the rest of the time may be used to learn vocational skills such as carpentry and masonry.

The drug policy may also lead to the loss of some of the sources of income such as importation. In the most recent case, Donald Trump plans to erect a wall at the borders of Mexico. The act will make it harder even for legal commodities such as food, minerals among others to be taken in and out of the country. This is all in the process of curbing drug and substance abuse as many o...