Running

head: POLICIES FOR DEALING WITH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL DRUGS 1

Policies for Dealing with Legal and Illegal Drugs

Steven Shea

University of San Diego

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Drugs, legal and illegal, have a long history in the United States. In 1622, the Virginia

Company of London complained to the Governor at Jamestown colonist drinking hurt the

colony (Crews, 2007). During the Civil War, soldiers reportedly became addicted to opiates

from doctors administering morphine (Courtwright, 2007). Prescription drug abuse dates to the

nineteenth Century when patients, mostly women, would abuse laudanum prescribed by their

physicians (Prescription Drug Abuse History, 2015). The United States continues its struggles to

control alcohol and drugs in the twenty-first century.

During my career, many citizens have commented on the scourge of illicit drugs in our

society, and with good reason. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that in

2010, 230 million people abused an illicit drug while 27 million had an addiction to an illicit drug

(World Drug Report, 2012). The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported, In 2002 about a quarter

of convicted property and drug offenders in local jails had committed their crimes to get money

for drugs (BJS, 2004).

The United States is now in its forty-sixth year of the War on Drugs, but the National

Institute on Drug Abuse estimated that in 2013 there were 24.6 million people aged 12 and

over who had used illicit drugs in the one month previous to the survey (NIDA, 2015).

Alternatives to lengthy prison sentences need to be explored to help reduce the prison

population and to rehabilitate offenders who should be offered alternatives for treatment

before and during prison sentences.

Therapeutic drug courts are currently available in every state and offer alternatives to

drug addicted offenders, military veterans, mentally ill offenders, and others. Adult drug courts

provide treatment to stop the cycle of abuse, provide intensive probationary standards, and
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frequent court appearances (NADCP, n.d.). Offenders who succeed are rewarded with benefits

while those who fail to meet requirements are sanctioned (NADCP, n.d.). According to the

National Association of Drug Court Professionals, Nationwide, 75% of Drug Court graduates

remain arrest-free at least two years after leaving the program (NADCP, n.d.). The

Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted an analysis of adult drug court studies

across the nation and determined that drug court graduates were re-arrested at a rate of

twelve to fifty-eight percent less than comparison groups (GAO, 2011).

Some offenders fail the drug court model or simply refuse participation, but

rehabilitative efforts can continue inside prison. The State of Ohio Department of

Rehabilitation and Correction (DORC) offers a number of rehabilitative services to inmates

(FBTF, 2015). Rachels House is a partnership between the DORC and Lower Light Ministries

offering group work for inmates and residential support upon release (FBTF, 2015). The Faith-

Based Initiatives Task Force reported a recidivism rate of less than eight percent for women

completing the program (FBTF, 2015).

The misuse and abuse of prescription drugs is a major problem in the United States. In

2010, 2.4 million people over the age of eleven misused prescription drugs for the first time

(National Governors Association (NGA), 2012). Sources of illicit prescription drug use include

pain clinics often referred to as pill mills, prescription fraud, online pharmacies, and, the most

frequent source, receiving, purchasing, or stealing from friends and family (NGA, 2012). In

2012, the National Governors Association provided an issue brief outlining six strategies to

reduce prescription drug abuse. Those six strategies are:

1. Make better use of prescription drug monitoring programs. Providing

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physicians and pharmacists with immediate feedback regarding a patients drug

history (NGA, 2012).

2. Enhance enforcement by coordinating operations, providing specialized

training, and strengthening existing laws. States can enact laws to help

coordinate efforts between law enforcement and various providers and quality

assurance boards. Many states lack specialized training for law enforcement

(NGA, 2012).

3. Ensure proper disposal of prescription drugs. Many agencies, including my

own, provide for free disposal of any prescription drugs. The public can drop off

the drugs at any of our buildings for disposal without question (NGA, 2012).

4. Leverage the states role as regulator and purchaser of services. Examples

include requiring all health care providers to offer ongoing training to physicians

on how to spot a prescription drug abuser and setting standards for dosages of

narcotic painkillers (NGA, 2012).

5. Build partnerships among key stakeholders. Many agencies traditionally dont

work together, but can form partnerships to combat prescription drug abuse.

Examples of agencies that can work together include medical and pharmacy

quality assurance boards, industry representatives, law enforcement, and health

care providers (NGA, 2012).

6. Use the bully pulpit to promote public education about prescription drug

abuse. The states have the ability to provide education through various media

to make the public aware of the problem and strategies to prevent abuse (NGA,
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2012).

By enacting these relatively simple strategies, states can start to stem the tide of prescription

drug abuse in the United States.

The third primary area requiring updated policies is alcohol abuse. As noted above,

during my career many citizens have commented about the problems that drugs create in our

society. I typically respond by explaining that drugs are a problem, but they dont hold a candle

to the problem created by alcohol. Research supports my long-held belief.

In 2005, Robinson determined that alcohol is connected to 110,000 deaths per year, as

opposed to other illicit drugs that are connected to 19,000 deaths per year (as cited in Walsh,

2012). Mustaine and Teweksbury found that one-third of all arrests in the United States are

related to alcohol (as cited in Walsh, 2012). In 2001, Martin determined approximately

seventy-five percent of robberies and eighty percent of homicides involve an intoxicated

offender or victim (as cited in Walsh, 2012).

While I dont advocate the prohibition of alcohol, policies need to be considered to

bring the problem under control. Examples of policies that could help control alcohol problems

in our society include better enforcement of existing laws, enacting strong laws to prevent

providing alcohol to minors, better education on alcohol abuse, and the use of the tobacco

model.

Providing funding specifically targeted at enforcing alcohol laws can help to reduce

some overconsumption while providing education to beverage servers. In most jurisdictions,

checking drinking establishments is random and infrequent. Bartenders have little incentive to

avoid violating over service laws. Regular, frequent bar checks along with strict enforcement of
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liquor laws can help gain compliance from servers.

In most states, providing alcohol to minors is a misdemeanor crime with little incentive

for avoidance. Increasing the penalties, to include large fines, can provide a deterrent to some

offenders. A parent who knowingly provides the setting for minors to consume alcohol may

think twice if significant jail time and fines are likely.

Education regarding the costs of alcohol abuse is an important component to reducing

alcohol abuse. Screening for alcohol or domestic abuse during routine medical exams can help

the health care industry target abusers and their victims for education.

By 1950, additional studies made the connection between tobacco and lung cancer

clear. It wasnt until 1964 that the Surgeon General officially reported on the link and it was

1965 when congress enacted a requirement to label cigarettes as dangerous to ones health

(Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, n.d.). In 1969, Congress enacted laws to ban certain types

of tobacco advertising (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, n.d.). In 1971, the Surgeon General

proposed banning smoking in public places (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, n.d.). In 1992

congress required states to enact laws preventing the sales of tobacco to those under the age

of eighteen (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, n.d.). These strategies, and others, helped to

reduce the per capita number of cigarettes consumed each year from a high of 4500 in the

early 1960s to less than 1500 in 2010 (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, n.d.). It took over

sixty years, but tobacco use is down over two-thirds from its heyday.

Stronger labeling of alcoholic containers, educating the public as to the true cost of

alcohol abuse, and strengthening laws preventing abuse by youths can help reduce alcohol

abuse. The single most effective strategy may be to ban most, if not all, advertisement of
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alcoholic beverages. One simple example is that young males are typically drawn to sports

programming that feature frequent advertisement of alcohol beverages.

Legal and illegal drugs are likely to remain a problem in American society. By choosing

treatment over imprisonment, agreeing on strategies to decrease abuse, and using proven

tactics to reduce abuse we can diminish the effects of these mind-altering substances.

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REFERENCES

Crews, E. (2007) Drinking in Colonial America. Retrieved from

http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/holiday07/drink.cfm

Courtwright, D. (2007) The Civil War Veteran. New York and London: New York University

Press.

Prescription Drug Abuse History. (2015) Retrieved from http://www.narconon.org/drug-

abuse/prescription-drug-history.html

United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. (2012) World Drug Report. Retrieved from

http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-

analysis/WDR2012/WDR_2012_web_small.pdf

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2004) Drugs and Crime Facts. Retrieved from

http://www.bjs.gov/content/dcf/duc.cfm#top

National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2015) Drug Facts: Nationwide Trends. Retrieved from

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/nationwide-trends

National Association of Drug Court Professionals. (n.d.) What are Drug Courts? Retrieved from

http://www.nadcp.org/learn/drug-courts-work/what-are-drug-courts

Government Accountability Office. (2011) Adult Drug Courts: Studies Show Courts Reduce

Recidivism, but DOJ Could Enhance Future Performance Measure Revision Efforts.

Retrieved from http://www.gao.gov/assets/590/586793.pdf

Ohio Correctional Faith-Based Initiatives Task Force (2015) Report to the Ohio General

Assembly. Retrieved from http://www.drc.ohio.gov/web/FB.PDF

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National Governors Association. (2012) Six Strategies for Reducing Prescription Drug Abuse.

Retrieved from http://www.nga.org/cms/Rx

Walsh, A. (2012) Criminology: The Essentials. Los Angeles, CA: Sage

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (n.d.) 50 Years of Tobacco Control. Retrieved from

http://www.rwjf.org/maketobaccohistory