Activity 10: Dorm Room Dealers

In the book, “Dorm Room Dealers”, the authors used a method of interviewing, as well as being observers in the field they were studying. They would take notes and observe the behavior of these college students involved in this business, and even be present for some transactions. What was really interesting about this book is that it completely goes against the idea of what I, as well as society, typically views who a drug dealer is. The idea that a majority have is that a drug dealer is someone from a low socioeconomic class, probably violent as well, with no higher education goals who deals to make money to support himself. This person most likely uses themselves, but drug dealing is their only source of income and if for some reason they do have another way to earn money, it is not a legitimate one. On the other hand, the book showed the drug ring that circulated throughout a college campus, largely fueled by the workings of college students who attended the university. Many of these individuals were from the upper class that had parents who made good money, and therefore did not need the money earned from selling drugs to survive. For example, LaCoste was one of the individuals the researchers interviewed and observed in the study. His father was a high-level accounting executive who not only bought him a $50,000 SUV, but also regularly supplied him with deposits of money that he could use to live pretty well off in college. From this, it is obvious that these students did not need the money for groceries, books, or any of the expenses college students usually had to deal with. Instead of selling to sustain their living, one of the interviewees, Cecilia, revealed that what motivated her and a lot of other students to begin selling drugs was to keep up with her own habit as well as the habit of her friends. Many of these dorm room dealers used selling drugs as a way to support their own use, or have easier access to whatever drugs they wanted to use for themselves. One student even mentioned using his funds as “beer money”, or money that he would actually just use to party, and not necessarily pay for a necessary expense. Another interesting fact about these students was that they were still involved in legitimate activities, despite their involvement with selling drugs. Many of them were business majors and still maintained good grades, and one was even a bank teller on top of being a student and selling drugs. While the media might portray that drug dealers only involve themselves with illegitimate activity, these students proved otherwise.

            I really enjoyed this book as it showed a different side of the drug market, one that is never really focused on when we as a society look towards the flow of drugs in this country and what we can do to stop it.

Comparative Drug Policy Analysis

Drug policy around the world has evolved right along with the changing attitudes society has had on the different drugs that exist today. Whether it be for political reasons, cultural norms, or simply a greater grasp on the effects of certain drugs, these policies also differ from country to country. This paper is going to focus on the differences in drug policy and approach to drug related issues in the countries of Italy and the United States.

            Italy became a nation-state in the year of 1861 and currently has a population of 61,680,122 people. Some reoccurring problems that the country has been facing include organized crime, high unemployment rates for women and for youth, slow economic progression, and economic disparities between the northern and southern parts of the country. Italy’s economy is divided into two parts in accordance to these northern and southern parts. The northern part of the country attains an industrial economy that is largely run by private companies, and the southern part has more of a focus on agriculture, and is where the unemployment rate is higher (Office of Public Affairs, 2014). In regards to healthcare, 9.5% of Italy’s GDP is allocated for healthcare, and the country implemented the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, also known as SSN, in which the government controls the distribution of tax revenue for this publicly financed system. SSN covers all citizens of Italy as well as legal residents, but is not the only option of healthcare as private health insurance is still available (Thomson et al., 2013). The drug sector of Italy is largely attributed to the existence of organized crime and its heavily reliance on the drug trafficking trade. In the year of 2008, an article written by Ann Wise in ABC news reported that drug trafficking brings in organized crime about $75 billion a year, and this sector is actually starting to affect the success of some of the legitimate businesses within the country (Wise, 2008).

            The national drug policy in Italy is one more focused on preventive and reduction methods, including an emphasis on the health consequences of drug addictions. There is also a heavy concern to include families in the prevention and rehabilitation efforts, as many of these programs target families and work with an individual’s peers, parents, teachers, or guardians. The Consolidated law in Italy, which was created in 1990, provides the framework for the distribution, prevention and treatment, and punishment of illegal activities in regards to drugs and psychoactive substances. Since 2006, possession of an illegal substance for personal use could be punished by different sanctions, such as being suspended from having a driver’s license. In this piece of legislation exist two tables, which make a certain distinction between drugs.  Illicit drugs are categorized in Table 1 and medicinal drugs are located in Table 2, and there is a certain maximum quantity of drugs to determine the difference between someone using the drug for personal use and someone who is trying to traffick drugs for a profit. The consequence for trying to transport, sale, or produce drugs can be anywhere from six to twenty years of imprisonment, which can vary depending on what table the drug is from. If the quality or quantity of the drug in a certain situation proves not to be a serious factor, the punishment for prison can range from one to six years. If a person is caught for the first time possessing illegal drugs, they receive a warning and formal request to stop using. This person can also request for treatment or rehabilitation (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2014).
            The Italian National Action Plan on Drugs was created in 2010 which outlines the two goals of demand and supply reduction by five areas of intervention. For demand reduction, the areas of intervention include prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and reintegration while supply reduction focuses on evaluation and monitoring, legislation, fighting drugs, and justice for youth.  The plan mainly focuses on illicit drug use, although there are some parts that address licit drug use and addictive behaviors (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2014).

            Part of the drug culture in Italy mirrors this idea of treatment, rehabilitation and helping those who do have these serious drug addictions. In a country that has more lenient policies, there is not as strong of a negative connotation when it comes to individual drug abusers. In the United States a person addicted to drugs is viewed as a criminal, but in Italy this person is viewed as someone who needs help. On the other side of this is another part of the drug culture which is viewed a little bit differently. The existence of the mafia and organized crime is also part of this culture which is regarded as dangerous, powerful, and money hungry. Its affects on society are going to be discussed later on in this paper, but the drug culture in itself has been able to funnel money into these organizations who have developed relationships with people all over the world. Some of the major groups of organized crime members are actually active in the United States and include the Sicilian Mafia, the Camorra or Neapolitan Mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia, and the Sacra Corona Unita or the United Sacred Crown. Along with drug trafficking, this culture breeds the activities of kidnapping, fraud, extortion, illegal gambling, political corruption, murder, counterfeiting, and weapons trafficking (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2014).

            Obvious effects of drug use on any society include the health risks associated with using. As already mentioned, this is a huge focus for the people in government in this country. The people that seek help at a public drug treatment center or hospital are able to take a voluntary test to check for diseases associated with drug use. Some of these diseases that have affected society include HIV and Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. Death is something that can also be related to drug use whether it be directly or indirectly. The Central Directorate for Antidrug Services in Italy has reported that the trends in drug-induced deaths showed a peak in the year of 1999, but has been on a decline since. The total number of deaths directly related to drug use for the year of 2012 was 360. Of these deaths, 214 had toxicology reports that were available, which showed the use of opiates as the most prevalent cause in 163 of these deaths (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2014).

            Other effects on society include the drug market and how beneficial it has been to those involved with organized crime. Drug trafficking serves as the organized crime’s main source of income, taking away about $317.5 million a day from legitimate businesses according to a study mentioned by Ann Wise in her ABC News article (Wise, 2008).  Along with drug trafficking, the mafia involves themselves in practices such as loan sharking and extortion, which affects and threatens the businessmen involved in industries like tourism and food production. Legitimate businesses are suffering financially from the existence of these organized crime mobs, which therefore affects the economy of the country (Wise, 2008).

            While Italy’s policies clearly focus more on preventative and treatment measures, trying to ensure those who are addicted do receive help, the United States could be described as more harsh in its policies. The US frequently likes to think that there is a link between drug use and violence and uses criminal law as the primary means of reducing drug abuse. The only time ever in history when a majority of funding in the US went to treatment rather than law enforcement was during the Nixon administration (2015). After that, most presidents have taken the stance that the war on drugs should be combated with arrests and imprisonments. Italy, on the other hand, recently spent 51% of its drug related funding on health and social care and 49% on law enforcement.  This is just one area to prove the difference in approach that these two countries have taken on the issue of drug use within their borders. Another example of the leniency Italy has taken to this issue compared to the United States can be seen with the use of sanctions Italy has provided for offenses, which are obviously not as serious as serving time in prison. A first time offender in Italy found in possession of illegal drugs gets off with a warning, while these warnings do not exist formally in our criminal justice system. The US, before the Obama administration revised it, had a law concerning powder versus crack cocaine. This law stated that 5.01 grams or more of crack cocaine called for a mandatory minimum of sentence five years, no matter if it was your first or 50^th offense (2015). This shows the extreme difference these two countries take towards first time offenders.

            Some similarities that exist between these two countries regarding drug policy, even though are few, include the idea of separating drugs based on medical use. In the Consolidated Law are two tables in which Italy’s government divides illicit drugs and drugs used medicinally. In the United States, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 created five schedules of drugs that are also categorized by medical use, along with abuse liability, and safety.

            It is interesting to see how in different parts of the world there are different responses to the exact same problem. Whether it be harsher or more lenient policies in dealing with drug use, society and the people that are a part of it I believe definitely have some influence as to how these laws are created and changed.

           

           

           

References

Kuhn, A. (Director) (2015, March 16). The War on Drugs. Lecture conducted from , Gainesville.

Italian Organized Crime. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/organizedcrime/italian_mafia

National Drug Laws. (n.d.). Retrieved March 31, 2015, from http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/country-overviews/it

The World Factbook. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2015, from https://www.cia.gov

Thomson, S., Osborn, R., Squires, D., & Jun, M. (2013, November 1). International Profiles of Healthcare Systems. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Fund Report/2013/Nov/1717_Thomson_intl_profiles_hlt_care_sys_2013_v2.pdf

Wise, A. (2008, November 12). The Mafia is Italy's Biggest Business. ABC News. Retrieved March 29, 2015, from http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=6238022

Activity 8: Our War on Drugs

Prior to the 1900s in this country, policies and laws concerning drug use were established by state and local levels, which were aimed to target specific groups. With the influx of immigrants into the country, the attitudes towards these new people were reflected in the laws created by those who were here “first”. The Irish, for example, were commonly negatively depicted as monkeys who were completely consumed with the use of alcohol, and who had no self-control to act properly and respectively.

By the 20^th century, a greater federal response towards drug use and policies came about, specifically with the 1906 Food and Drug Act. This act focused on patent medicines and established the Food and Drug Administration, which called for companies to be required to put the ingredients in their product on the label for customers to see. At the time of the 1920s, following this new federal response, societal attitudes towards drugs, those addicted to drugs, and use patterns, began to change. The view of an addict now was that he or she was a criminal, and the connotation that comes along with a “criminal” is that they should be punished. Nixon and his administration followed suit with his declaration for a war on drugs, and the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 was created that still heavily influences drug policy today. This piece of legislation stated that drugs were now under federal jurisdiction, created 5 schedules of substances, established the Drug Enforcement Administration, and allowed for the government to control drugs directly, rather than through taxes. This propelled the anti-drug movement that developed in our country and helped maintain the approach we have today, in which drug use and addiction is looked at as the government’s responsibility to not only handle, but also enforce the laws established around them.

The whole goal behind waging the war on drugs was to eliminate, or at least lessen, drug use by punishing those who are illegally using drugs. I honestly feel like we have lost on this war on drugs with the approach our government has taken towards this issue. Instead of trying to rehabilitate those who are addicted to drugs, our government takes on the notion of arrest and put in prison, which does nothing to help the individual overcome the addiction that put them in that position in the first place. One cost, as already sort of mentioned, is the fact that individuals who are being sent to prison for a drug problem are not getting the rehabilitation they need, and therefore the system is not working to help better them by trying to overcome their addiction. A second cost is the fact that our prisons are becoming overpopulated with individuals who have drug offenses, and instead of using these already limited spaces in our prisons for those who commit offenses like robbery or rape, a person who is in possession of marijuana with a first time offense is found behind a cell.  The third and probably most obvious cost of losing this drug war is the financial loss, and how much money our government puts into officials to enforce these drug laws, which do not always seem to fairly coincide with the specific drug involved.

As with anything in life, there is always room for improvement and I believe to effectively “win” or at least provide a worthy fight in this war on drugs, the approach our government is taking to tackle the issue now, has to change.  

Activity 7: UF Law Panel Review

            We have seen so far throughout our course how attitudes about many types of drugs have changed over time and how use of these certain drugs have changed as well. Marijuana, currently, is one of these drugs that has received much attention as arguments for both the legalization or continued criminalization for the drug have come forth in efforts to affect public policy.

            Arguments against the idea of making medical and recreational marijuana legal to use stand on the idea that the drug is labeled a scheduled 1 drug, and according to the Controlled Substances Act in the category of the most dangerous types of drugs out there. Being in this category, the federal government states that there is no accepted medical use for the drug and it has a high potential level of abuse. Just by listening to that alone, one would think maybe marijuana should stay as a schedule 1 drug, yet even research into how this drug can possibly be helpful cannot even be done because the drug is illegal. Progress with research in this drug is also an issue both parties talk about. People against marijuana use also claim that the drug is a gateway drug, meaning an individual who uses it will more likely begin to try other drugs such as cocaine and heroine. This too, they argue, is another strong point for marijuana to stay illegal especially because it is popular among the youth of our country and therefore they are the ones who could experience the most harm from it.

            On the other side, advocates for the legalization of marijuana first claim opponents of the drug are typically just against the drug because of the negative social stigma it holds, not necessarily because they have taken a good look at the facts. They argue, in regards to public policy, marijuana can really help on the healthcare issue. Even though those against the drug say there isn’t any medical use for marijuana, advocates not only claim that there is, but also claim that there are more harmful drugs out there with worse side effects that are currently being used in the medical field. An example of this would be something like prescription drugs, which even though legal, have an extremely high rate for abuse in this country, especially in the state of Florida according to the video we watched in class. Advocates also claim there could be financial benefits for the government if they decide to make marijuana legal and then create a tax on it, just as they do with cigarettes. If marijuana became legal, there would be less focus on making arrests regarding it, and instead of filling up our prisons with “drug offenders”, we can look to more serious issues or those individuals who are involved with more serious drugs.