O Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

O - Essay Example Different countries have jail criminals on less complex possession of illegal drugs such as marijuana, when found guilty, these offenders are given harsh punishment and jail sentences (Sandro 45). In the last 30 years, there have been international rise in the criminalization of improper use of drugs. Criminalization has led to the rise on the application of disciplinary authorizations executed on illegal drug offenders; in addition there have been an increase in the rates of imprisonment. However, it is vital to note that these policies have had a limited effect in reducing and controlling the abuse of illegal drugs in the streets. In the recent years, the have been some advancement on the fact that another effective approach needs to be implemented in order to combat the use of illegal drugs, addiction of these drugs has come out to be a health problem that needs treatment, medical intervention and counseling instead of imprisonment. In the United States, the population in the prisons has amplified from 300,000 to 2.3 million inmates in the last four decades. Among these inmates, only one in 3 adults in the United States prisons in on the system of parole or probation. This has proved to be expensive as the government at present expends more than 68 billion dollars annually on the prison sector. Therefore, jailing of offenders on use of illegal drugs is one of the main of the mass imprisonment in the United States prisons. There are also substantial signs that drug execution has averted resources from law application of violent offenses and other dangers to public well-being (Sandro 44). Drug offenders who show no previous history of drug abuse or any type of violence and no prior arrests usually face compulsory minimum sentences in excess of 25 years behind bars. A high total of drug low level offenders who have been found guilty end up receiving harsh sentences such as life imprisonment without the option of parole, this is due to the