Drug Abuse As A Catalyst To Incarceration

The primary amount of individuals who have been incarcerated have abused, or used, drugs before they committed their crime. The drug problem within America has been increasing regardless of the federal stats that have been proclaimed. The war on drugs is a farce; a proclamation of indifference to the needs of the lower class. Drugs have been escalating to all lower class and middle class neighborhoods to a proportion that has never been seen in America's history. The government's form of action behind diminishing drugs within our communities is drug interdiction.

If you use the supply and demand curves within economics do illustrate what the effects of drug interdiction does, you will come to the realization that it shifts the supply curve to the left, increasing the price of drugs, and lowering the quantity of drugs sold. This won't entirely work. The true affect of drug interdiction increases criminal activity within our communities. This is because drug users usually can't afford the hire drug prices, so they rob, steal, and/or burglarize to obtain the finances necessary to supply their habit.

Another approach is drug education. Drug education shifts the demand curve to the left, lowering the price of drugs, and lowering the quantity sold. Drug users don't have a high incentive to rob, steal, and/or burglarize because of the lower prices.

I'm not saying that one approach should be chosen over another, but officials need to start pushing more tax dollars into drug education to lower criminal activity within our communities. Taking the time to do the research on how an addict thinks would be more beneficial than to lock them up and wait for them to get back out on the street and engage in the same activity that they were once involved in.

Difficulty In Job Acquisition

It has been extremely complicated, if not almost impossible, for felons to find suitable employment. Once an individual is released from the criminal justice system, they are told that they have served their debt to society, only to be stonewalled by employers. It has come to the point where felons have no other choice than to commit an illegal act just to survive.

Employers obviously don't understand the benefits of hiring felons. In many cases, tax breaks are offered to the company for taking on these Socially Unacceptable individuals. Bonds are even offered to employers for their inconvenience. There is also the added attribute of felons working very hard for whomever may employ them.

Background checks are usually conducted on all potential employees, with the intention of eliminating all felons that may apply for the position. Many of these felons are far more qualified then the average prospect, but they still eliminate them from the employ pool list due to a mistake that that particular person has made. This cuts out 80% of the jobs that a felon can engage into. The final 20% of jobs are all manufacturing or redundant service sector jobs that pay very little. Many felons have attended college courses and acquired a degree, only to be turned down multiple times due to their felony.

I'm not saying all people with a felony on their record are doing positive, productive activities, but I am saying that most felons are good citizens, who just happened to make a mistake in their life.

I'm asking all employers to have some common courtesy, and consider hiring a felon based on his/her skills, not on a mistake that was conducted in the past. You would be contributing to a lower crime rate and a more stable society.