Why Do Drug Dealers Serve Longer Sentences Than Rapists?
Start writing a post
Health and Wellness

Why Do Drug Dealers Serve Longer Sentences Than Rapists?

A look into the War on Drugs and the American Criminal Justice System

12907
Why Do Drug Dealers Serve Longer Sentences Than Rapists?

“Drug dealers get heftier and longer sentences than rapists, which is perplexing considering that people ask for drugs, but no one asks to get raped. It’s the American Justice System in a nutshell.” This quote has been floating around the internet for years now, and it represents a common conception held by Americans. In 2009, the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network reported that out of every 100 rapists, two will spend a single day in prison. Contrastingly, the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics found that as of September 2014, 50% of sentenced inmates in federal prison were serving time for drug offenses.

This information, startlingly high incarceration rates of drug offenders, is partly credited to the seemingly endless, trillion dollar effort that is the War on Drugs. This campaign began nearly 45 years ago when President Nixon declared, in 1971, “America’s public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.” Nixon funded one of America’s first treatment programs, stating to Congress, “As long as there is a demand, there will be those willing to take the risks of meeting the demand.” The President’s policies reflected the temperance view and the disease view of addition. Though rooted in good intentions, and given ample time, resources, and effort, the war Nixon began nearly half a decade ago seems to still exist today. At that, it’s a war that has largely been unsuccessful, a war that we are losing.

That’s not to say that we haven’t been fighting it. Since 1971, sentences on drug offenses have gotten stricter, millions of offenders have been fined and jailed, and rehabilitation efforts have been made for those who face drug abuse problems. The problem is the government has taken the approach of locking their people up and throwing away the key, which, by any means, cannot be regarded or celebrated as successful.

CNN points out the biggest indicator that this movement has been a failure: “The US has the largest prison population in the world, with around 2.3 million behind bars. More than half a million of those people are incarcerated for a drug law violation … Have US drug laws reduced drug use? No. The U.S. is the Number one nation in the world nation in the world in illegal drug use.” CNN mirrored the War on Drugs to the Prohibition, an infamously flawed, doomed effort. “As with the Prohibition, banning alcohol didn’t stop people from drinking, it just stopped people from obeying the law.”

The vastly large number of people we have imprisoned would almost be deemed as a success for the US government if the high incarceration rates correlated with a decrease in drug use and distribution. But as CNN reported, no such correlation exists. We have thrown not billions but trillions of dollars at a problem that has failed to cease significantly. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reported that an estimated 13% of state budgets go towards dealing with drug abuse but allocated only four cents out of every dollar spent for treatment and prevention.

Our efforts on reform have been few and far between. Ethan Nadelmann, head of the Drug Policy Alliance (A New York City based policy and lobbying group) says his group’s most remarkable accomplishment was the passage of California’s Proposition 36 in 2000, which requires treatment instead of incarceration for drug offenders and has already kept nearly 100,000 people from going to jail or prison. The act doubled money for drug treatment purposes and saved taxpayers money by reducing prison populations. Nadelmann and the DPA pushed for this act, and continue to push for it in other states, because they do not support the government strategy of making an intense effort to put too many people behind bars and not doing very little to reduce the availability of drugs.

If such measures were taken in all fifty states, things would be drastically different. Addiction is a disease. Putting drug addicts in jail is only locking them away for a set period of time before they are released and inevitably use again. Focusing efforts on rehabilitation instead of incarceration would allow for addicts to get the help that they need. It would not solve the problem over night, but it would drastically reduce incarceration rates, saving us resources and money.

Nadelmann stated, “The true challenge is learning to live with drugs so that they cause the least harm. An effective strategy needs to establish realistic objectives and criteria for evaluating success or failure, and must focus on reducing the death, disease, crime and suffering associated with both drug use and drug policies.” Successfully winning against the war on drugs won’t be easy, but it won’t be a success at all if the government continues to see incarceration as the best answer to this lethal and dangerous problem. As Einstein famously believed, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Our well-meaning efforts in this war have been insane, unsuccessful, and borderline laughable. We’ve spent a trillion dollars and have made a small, barely noticeable dent in an ongoing epidemic. If we don’t act now to restructure our laws and the American Criminal Justice system as a whole, this could get much, much worse.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
the beatles
Wikipedia Commons

For as long as I can remember, I have been listening to The Beatles. Every year, my mom would appropriately blast “Birthday” on anyone’s birthday. I knew all of the words to “Back In The U.S.S.R” by the time I was 5 (Even though I had no idea what or where the U.S.S.R was). I grew up with John, Paul, George, and Ringo instead Justin, JC, Joey, Chris and Lance (I had to google N*SYNC to remember their names). The highlight of my short life was Paul McCartney in concert twice. I’m not someone to “fangirl” but those days I fangirled hard. The music of The Beatles has gotten me through everything. Their songs have brought me more joy, peace, and comfort. I can listen to them in any situation and find what I need. Here are the best lyrics from The Beatles for every and any occasion.

Keep Reading...Show less
Being Invisible The Best Super Power

The best superpower ever? Being invisible of course. Imagine just being able to go from seen to unseen on a dime. Who wouldn't want to have the opportunity to be invisible? Superman and Batman have nothing on being invisible with their superhero abilities. Here are some things that you could do while being invisible, because being invisible can benefit your social life too.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

19 Lessons I'll Never Forget from Growing Up In a Small Town

There have been many lessons learned.

71138
houses under green sky
Photo by Alev Takil on Unsplash

Small towns certainly have their pros and cons. Many people who grow up in small towns find themselves counting the days until they get to escape their roots and plant new ones in bigger, "better" places. And that's fine. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought those same thoughts before too. We all have, but they say it's important to remember where you came from. When I think about where I come from, I can't help having an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for my roots. Being from a small town has taught me so many important lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Keep Reading...Show less
​a woman sitting at a table having a coffee
nappy.co

I can't say "thank you" enough to express how grateful I am for you coming into my life. You have made such a huge impact on my life. I would not be the person I am today without you and I know that you will keep inspiring me to become an even better version of myself.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

132937
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments