Drugs in America
By: Melissa Sills
Criminal Justice 10 10
Drugs in America
Does America have a drug problem? Drugs are currently the number one crime that leads
to arrests in the United States. Of all those drugs arrests, the majority of them were related to
marijuana. While the arrest rate for this drug is high, there is also a large controversy around the
legalization of this drug.
Over the last couple of years, the arrest rate for drugs has steadily gone up. Most of those
arrests were for possession and not for sales or manufacturing. In 2007, of the 1,841,182 arrests
for drug law violations in 2007, 82.5% (1,518,975) were for possession of a controlled
substance. Only 17.5% (322,207) were for the sale or manufacture of a drug.
(http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/crime#sthash.HsvUanla.dpuf). In 2010, of the 1,638,846
arrests for drug law violations in 2010, 81.9% (1,342,215) were for possession of a controlled
substance. Only 18.1% (296,631) were for the sale or manufacture of a drug.
(http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/crime#sthash.HsvUanla.dpuf). In 2011, of the 1,531,251
arrests for drug law violations in 2011, 81.8% (1,252,563) were for possession of a controlled
substance. Only 18.2% (278,687) were for the sale or manufacturing of a drug.
(http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/crime#sthash.HsvUanla.dpuf). In 2012, of the 1,552,432
arrests for drug law violations in 2012, 82.2% (1,276,099) were for possession of a controlled
substance. Only 17.8% (276,333) were for the sale or manufacturing of a drug.
(http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/crime#sthash.HsvUanla.dpuf). As you can see from this
information the arrests for drug offenses is going down a little bit but so are the arrests for the
sales and manufacturing but the arrests for actual possession is going up.
While the number of arrests for drugs is going up, the arrests for violent crimes are going
down. In 1973, there were 328,670 arrests reported by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
for drug law violations, out of a total 9,027,700 arrests nationwide for all offenses. Also that
year, authorities reported 380,560 arrests for all violent crimes and 1,448,700 arrests for all
property offenses. (FBI Uniform Crime Reports 1973 (1973 drug arrest data supplied by the
National Criminal Justice Reference Service). In 2012, the number of arrests for drug law
violations rose to 1,552,432 out of a total 12,196,959 arrests nationwide for all offenses. Also in
2012, authorities reported 521,196 arrests for all violent crimes and 1,646,212 for all property
offenses. (“Crime in the United States 2012 - Arrests," FBI Uniform Crime Report (Washington,
DC: US Dept. of Justice, September 2013). You can see by these numbers that drugs are a huge
reason people are arrested and you can deduce that America does in fact have a drug problem.
Sale/Manufacture
Year
Total
Number
of Drug
Arrests
2012
1,552,432 17.8%
6.1%
5.9%
1.9%
4.0%
82.2%
16.5%
42.4%
4.5%
18.7%
2011
1,531,251 18.2%
6.3%
6.2%
1.8%
4.0%
81.8%
16.7%
43.3%
4.6%
17.2%
2010
1,638,846 18.1%
6.2%
6.3%
1.8%
3.7%
81.9%
16.4%
45.8%
4.1%
15.7%
2009
1,663,582 18.4%
7.1%
6.0%
1.7%
3.5%
81.6%
17.7%
45.6%
3.7%
14.6%
2008
1,702,537 17.7%
7.7%
5.5%
1.5%
3.0%
82.3%
20.1%
44.3%
3.3%
14.6%
2007
1,841,182 17.5%
7.9%
5.3%
1.5%
2.8%
82.5%
21.5%
42.1%
3.3%
15.6%
2006
1,889,810 17.5%
8.0%
4.8%
1.5%
3.2%
82.5%
22.8%
39.1%
3.4%
17.2%
2005
1,846,351 18.3%
8.0%
4.9%
1.4%
4.0%
81.7%
22.2%
37.7%
3.4%
18.3%
2004
1,746,570 18.3%
8.4%
5.0%
1.6%
3.4%
81.7%
22.0%
39.2%
3.5%
17.0%
2003
1,678,192 19.4%
8.8%
5.5%
1.5%
3.6%
80.6%
21.5%
39.5%
3.1%
16.6%
2002
1,538,813 19.7%
8.8%
5.4%
1.4%
4.0%
80.3%
21.3%
39.9%
3.0%
16.0%
2001
1,586,902 19.4%
9.7%
5.2%
1.4%
3.1%
80.6%
23.1%
40.4%
2.7%
14.4%
Sale/Manu.
Any Drug
Heroin,
Cocaine,
and
Derivatives
Possession
Marijuana
Other
Heroin,
Synthetic or
Synthetic or
Dangerous Possession Cocaine,
Manufactur
Marijuana Manufactured
Nonnarcoti Any Drug and
ed Drugs
Drugs
c Drugs
Derivatives
Other
Dangerous
Nonnarcotic
Drugs
By reviewing the chart above you can see that Marijuana sales and manufacturing is almost as
high as Heroin, Cocaine and other Derivatives. Now looking at possession, is almost double that
of any other drug. In San Francisco in 2008, based on the arrests that were made there was an
arrest every 37 seconds for marijuana possession. When speaking to my brother, Jason Sills, who
has been a police officer with Utah Highway Patrol for nearly 9 years, he informed me that out
all of the arrests he’s done in that period of time, 80% have been drug related and of that 80%
most of those were marijuana related.
So let’s think of things in this manner. Jails are currently overcrowded so more people are
being put on parole and simply just released with time served. If most of those arrests are drug
related, especially marijuana related, why not legalize marijuana? Legalizing marijuana would
cut down on the arrests and the time our officers spend on those arrests. That will allow more
time for them to do proactive patrols, which have proven in the past to be beneficial for certain
cities with high crime rates.
Along with cutting down on overcrowding in jails, legalizing marijuana will also cut back
on drug cartels bringing the drugs over the boarders. Mexico is one of the leading drug
trafficking counties in the world and since they border directly with the United States, most
drugs come through there. In 2009, as much as 90% of the cocaine in the United States came
through Mexico. Heroin, Cocaine and Marijuana are the leading drugs that come in through
Mexico. If the legalize Marijuana it cuts back greatly on one of the drugs coming over the
border. By working to cut down on the trafficking from over the border, will help cut down the
illegal immigrants as well as other cartel/gang members. The United States also has a large
number of gangs and in certain areas, such as along to borders, gangs are large in number.
Legalizing marijuana may also cut down on gang activity. Sure there will still be sales of
cocaine and heroin but a lot of drugs sales from the gangs are also marijuana. This will help our
gang units be allowed to spend more time working on the harder drugs which have proven to kill
people whether it be by using it, selling it or simply getting caught in the middle of a bad
situation that is ran by those harsher drugs.
It costs money to keep prisons and jails going as well as paying the police officers that
work to make these arrests. We are in national debt for many different reasons. Legalizing
marijuana could help get us out of that debt. You can take the grow farms as well as tax the sales.
In the state of Colorado, for January 2014, taxes paid on medical marijuana were $913,519 and
recreational marijuana was $416,690. This is a total of $1,330,209 in taxes for one month in one
state. Imagine the changes that could be made by making this change.
We currently have certain states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Some states have legalized it just to have it. You can grow it and have possession of it and still
be within the law. There are thousands if not millions of people in the United States that have
cancer, arthritis, seizures, migraines, chronic pain, psychological conditions, etc. that could
benefit from the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Marijuana causes nausea to
lessen if not fully go away which will benefit anybody who is going through chemotherapy or
radiation. When going through chemotherapy you will have extreme fatigue, loss of appetite,
extreme pain and extreme nausea. The use of marijuana cuts down on all these side effects in a
tremendous manner. Doctors will put you on a prescription drug to cut down on the nausea and
the pain but they may not work as well. People will end up smoking marijuana and selling their
pain pills which easily ties back into the drug arrest issues we have. Marijuana can help cut down
on a lot of pain for multiple different diseases. Speaking from personal experience, I went
through chemotherapy and I did smoke marijuana during that period of time. Never before and
not after but during the period of time it was needed. I can speak volumes on how much it helped
me physically mentally and emotionally.
Now on a different note, many people feel that marijuana shouldn’t be legalized for
multiple reasons. Speaking from a police officer’s perspective, a lot feel the need to make these
arrests. They feel the need to take this “illegal” drug off the street as they feel they have more
control over people breaking the law. My brother specifically stated he doesn’t feel marijuana
should be legalized because it impairs you, alters your thinking, impairs your judgment, alters
your mood, affects your motor skills, people don’t know if it’s laced with a hard drug that you
could have serious problems with, and people get killed over it. The irony with this statement is
that alcohol does the same thing yet that is legal. More deaths have happened due to alcohol.
You can slip other drugs into alcohol which has been known in the past to completely
incapacitate people and that causes major harm. You can’t drive when being drunk but a lot of
people are able to drive after smoking marijuana. People can go to work, school and still fully
function after smoking marijuana. It’s time we definitely look at what we are considering an
“illegal.”
America does have a drug problem. More arrests on drugs than any other crime including
violent ones. More than cyber crimes and everything happens on the internet these days. Most
people in jail or that have been to jail was due to possession of a controlled substance, mainly
marijuana. The time has come where we need to review this major issue in our country. We can
do so by making changes to our laws or changes to our culture.
Bibliography
1. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/crime#sthash.HsvUanla.dpbs (Webpage)
2. Police Officer Jason Sills
3. "Crime in the United States 2012 - Arrests," FBI Uniform Crime Report (Washington, DC: US Dept. of
Justice, September 2013), p. 1, "Crime in the United States 2011 - Arrests," FBI Uniform Crime Report
(Washington, DC: US Dept. of Justice, October 2012), p. 1, "Crime in the United States 2010," FBI
Uniform Crime Report (Washington, DC: US Dept. of Justice, September 2011), Table 29, "2007 Crime in
the United States," (Washington, DC: US Dept. of Justice, September 2008), Table 29. (webpage)
4. Marijuana And Medicine: Assessing The Science Base. Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A.
Benson, Jr., Editors. Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health Institute of Medicine.
5. http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/ (webpage)
6. http://www.colorado.gov/(webpage)