Drug Addiction and Crime Over Research Paper

(Cussen, 2006, pp. 39 -- 48)

The Role of the Church, Family, Community and Nonprofits

Like what was stated previously, our focus will be on those organizations that are through: the church, family, community and various nonprofits. The basic idea here is to have each one of these groups effectively reach out to various addicts and offer them a way of effectively dealing with their addiction. This is significant because, this kind of basic approach has been used consistently throughout the course of human history to address these kinds of problems. Evidence of this can be seen by looking no further than a direct reference from 1 Corinthians 10:13 with it saying, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." ("The Holy Bible," 2007) As a result, the change in policy that we are advocating is intelligently dealing with these issues, while remaining in line with some of the basic ideas of the Judeo Christian philosophy. This giving these organizations the chance to remain in line with these objectives, while following some of the practices that have been used throughout history to deal with these challenges.

The basic approach that we are advocating is currently being utilized by many different groups on the local level to deal with these issues. A good example of this can be seen by looking no further than, the Most Excellent Way program that was started in 1986. Originally, this was designed to provide the local community of Jacksonville, Florida; with some kind of effective addict interdiction and treatment programs. This was accomplished by: offering counseling / services and working with these individuals to find new ways to deal with their addiction over the long-term.

Over the years, this program has been so successful that the majority of people were able to see an improvement in their personal lives through this approach. As the series has expanded to a number of different regions around the world including: Europe, Russia, Mexico and the Philippines. This is significant, because it is highlighting that if this basic philosophy can be embraced. There is a realistic possibility that these groups can effectively conduct some kind of intervention on larger scales. Once this occurs, it will allow these kinds of organizations to effectively deal with demand through: reaching out to addicts. ("Drug and Alcohol Addiction," 2011)

A second example of the potential effectiveness of this approach can be seen with West Care. This is a community and family-based nonprofit that was started in 1973. Their focus is to reach out those individuals who are suffering from drug addiction by: intervening when someone it is impacting the lives of their community and family members. This occurs, when the police become involved after an initial arrest, based upon a host of different incidents ranging from: drug addiction to domestic violence. The basic idea with this strategy is to find those individuals who are suffering from drug abuse once they begin to become a part of the criminal justice system. As, they are offering in and outpatient counseling / support to help these people overcome their addiction. Once this occurs, there is the realistic possibility that the person can avoid jail time and has a chance at being able to rebuild their lives. This approach has been proven to be so successful that they can deal with a host of issues, as the program has been expanded to a wide variety of states around the country. ("About Us," 2011)

When you step back and analyze these different organizations, it is clear that this kind of strategy could have a major impact on addressing those issues that are affecting local communities. Though: working the illness addicts are suffering from vs. treating them as criminals. This is the point that the issues of demand can be effectively addressed by: focusing on how it is contributing to the underlying problem. This is in line with traditional Judeo Christian philosophy by: effectively reaching out to these people through: setting the example. Evidence of this can be seen in 1 Timothy 4:12 with is saying, "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." ("The Holy Bible," 2007) This is significant because, it is illustrating how the basic approach that we are taking is based on historical principals to effectively tackle the problem on the local community level. Once this occurs, we can be able to deal with these challenges by addressing the issue through: the levels of supply and demand of the market. This will reduce the adverse impact that this is having on: governments, communities, families and individuals (through lowering crime rate along with intelligently tackling the problem). As large criminal organizations will have no way seeing sizeable profit margins (which will force them to go into other areas to achieve their objectives).

Clearly, one of the biggest challenges facing many governments and communities is that they are not effectively dealing with supply and demand issues (when it comes to the sale as well distribution of illegal drugs). The reason why, is because the status quo is ignoring these two basic principles (which is contributing to the underlying problem). As, large cartels have emerged that have found a way to continue with their operations. This is despite the fact that billions of dollars are spent each year in going after these organizations and their customers. Over the course of time, the net effect of this approach has made the problem more severe with: it contributing to an increase the amount of crime on the international and local levels.

As a result, there must be some kind of blanket decriminalization with the government playing a central role in the distribution of these products. This will deal with the supply side by: keeping prices low and taking customers away from key cartels. At the same time, a tax could be used to fund various addiction intervention and treatment programs. This is the most effective way to achieve this objective through working with church, community, family and nonprofit groups. If this kind of strategy can be utilized it will dramatically reduce crime rates and improve the quality of life of many locals. This is the point that some kind of headway can be made in addressing this issue through intelligently focusing on the root causes of the problem.

Bibliography

About Us. (2011). West Care. Retrieved from: http://www.westcare.com/

Drug and Alcohol Addiction. (2011). Live Baptist Church. Retrieved from: http://olivebaptist.org/Addiction/

Drugs and Crime. (2010). Everything Addiction. Retrieved from: http://www.everythingaddiction.com/addiction-society/drugs-and-crime-the-impact-of-drugs-within-societies/

Fact Sheet ADAM II Report. (2008). White House Drug Policy. Retrieved from: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/pdf/adamii_fact_sheet_2008.pdf

The Holy Bible. (2007).

Carduso, H. (2009). The War on Drugs is a Failure. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123535114271444981.html

Cussen, M. (2006). Legalize Drugs Now. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 12, 39 -- 48.

Fry, Smith, Bruno, O'Keefe & Miller (2007). Benzodiazepine And Pharmaceutical Opioid Misuse And Their Relationship To Crime.

Klein, A.R. (2009). Practical Implications of…