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Provide an overall description of US drug policy: How are we fighting the “war on drugs”? This assignment is designed to provide you with an understanding of the backbone of US drug policy.
Describe fully current US drug policy in terms of four defining pillars (20/80 points):
Interdiction: Reducing the supply of drugs in the country. Identify and explain specific examples of federal, state, and private agencies involved, specific programs, current strategies and policies, and economic expenditure. How do we stop drugs from getting to users? Please note that I am NOT looking for an explanation of past and current drug laws, but rather the specific approaches of interdiction.
Incarceration: Imprisonment of offenders at the state and federal levels. Provide an overall picture of the cost and extent of this pillar. Identify specifically potential punishments for first-time offenders of drug laws for several psychoactive drugs.
Prevention: Strategies and interventions that help prevent harmful use. Identify and explain provide specific examples of prevention programs at the federal, state, and private level involved. This answer should include examples and descriptions of specific programs, current strategies and policies, and economic expenditure.
Treatment: Reducing demand by treating successfully issues of use and abuse. Identify and explain the full range of different strategies and options for drug treatment. What are strategies for successful drug treatment at the federal, state, and private level?
Now, provide your thoughts and reflections on current US drug policy (10/80 points). What works with current policy? What doesn’t? Identify and explain your concerns and problems you see with the current approach. You may provide these reflections as a separate section of the paper or in the context of describing each of the above pillars.
Consider a new pillar: Harm Reduction. Harm Reduction is an approach that aims to reduce the negative consequences associated with drug use. This approach argues that addressing concerns about safety in drug use can help stem the tragic economic, health, and human costs of misuse. Describe what the harm reduction model is and the types of programs that fall under this umbrella. Be specific. What advantages and disadvantages can you identify with this model (10/80 points)?
Create a rational drug policy for the country!!! There is very little question that most attempts to fashion drug use policy in this country have failed in that they have not curtailed drug use to any significant effect and/or have had unintended consequences that have made the drug problem in this country worse. Here is your chance to determine the future of our country by identifying a rational, effective drug policy.
Do so by first researching alternative approaches to national drug policy (20/80 points). Examine drug policy in at least two other countries. Provide a thorough look and description of how they treat drug use. How does their approach differ from ours? Importantly, address the issue regarding whether their approach has been more (or less) successful than the U.S. approach. Does their approach work better?
Use this material to inform your look at recommended changes to existing US drug policy (10/80 points). Be sure to address the concerns you raise in section 2 above. How would you prioritize the goals of a rational drug policy: interdiction, incarceration, prevention, and treatment? Why? What would YOUR drug policy be for this country? Consider the following questions (among others):
Is incarceration an appropriate strategy for drug offenders? Consider the costs of incarceration versus the impact of the increased criminal behavior committed by addicts.
Should we de-criminalize drugs? Should we legalize drugs?
How can current public policy regarding prevention and treatment be improved?
Would you incorporate harm reduction approaches? Why or why not? If yes, what program would you use and why?
Assignment Requirements
All submissions must be typed double-spaced with reasonable margins. Papers are to have in-text citations (preferably in APA format) with a References Cited section. There is no minimum requirement for the number of references cited. This assignment can be completed in 6 pages of text (not counting references), although there is no penalty for papers that exceed this amount.
You may use library, textbook, and Internet resources. Your paper should extend beyond the description provided in lecture and textbook for the topic you select (Don’t just tell me what I tell you!). Please take care to follow the University’s academic code of honesty and its policy on plagiarism- no direct copying, no lifting of ideas without proper credit, and no “cutting and pasting” from websites!
All assignments will be processed by Turnitin, an online plagarism checker. Only papers that receive a blue (No matching text) or green (up to 24% matching text) score will be accepted as a successful completion of the assignment. Papers that receive a yellow (25 to 49% matching text) will receive a 50% reduction in the graded score. Papers with either an orange (50 to 75% matching text) or red (75% to 100% matching text) will receive a zero for the assignment. If your paper receives an unacceptable Turnitin score, you can retract, rework, and resubmit the assignment.
See syllabus for due date. Late submissions will incur a 50% penalty of the earned grade.
Deliverables
Your paper will be evaluated using these rubric elements.
Pillars of Current Policy: Interdiction, Incarceration, Prevention, Treatment (20 points)
Assessment of Current Policy: Positives, negatives, concerns (10 points)
Harm Reduction Model (10 points)
Examination of Drug Policy in Two Separate Countries (20 points)
Recommendations: Strategies, Harm Reduction Model, Priority Pillars (10 points)
Organization and Overall Presentation; Citations, Sources, References (10 points)
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