Anti-Drug Abuse Act
Any social policy encompasses social services that strengthen social administration, human welfare, and government measures that aid in social protection. Over the years, the government has been striving to fight various social menaces such as the drug abuse. Consequently, the government introduced the Anti-Drug Abuse Act to fight against drug addiction, trafficking, and abuse (Pope Jr et al., 2013). The Act incorporated a lot of changes including provisions of penalties for dealing effectively with drug peddling and use because the public demanded the government to intervene after several deaths were witnessed. Besides, the Act carries provision of robust and efficient agencies to manage drug trafficking, production, and abuse.
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act was crafted during the endemic drug use that had afflicted the United States in 1980’s. The death of Len Bias, one of the most renowned athletes due to the use of cocaine enraged the American in public (Burke, 2014). This incident prompted the government to get actively involved in combating drug abuse and peddling through implementation of various laws and regulations under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. The federal government enacted the law in 1988 which primarily focused on both the sellers and the users of the unlawful drugs. Moreover, the law obligated the United States to collaborate with other countries to establish effective mechanisms for dealing with the global trafficking of drugs. The law had a great impact on the drug addicts in the U.S. Initially, the government had to spend a lot of money to ensure that the programs and campaigns against drug abuse were dynamic and kept progressing (Kellam et al., 2014). Moreover, since it was difficult for the addicts to quit the abuse of drugs abruptly, the State had to introduce rehabilitation centers in partnership with the society and humanitarian groups. Consequently, most of the drug production firms started experiencing economic losses since the government started monitoring their production and supply process strictly. The government also mandated death penalty against all those who were found guilty of committing drug offenses such as the drug supply.
The drug policy was primarily imposed to fight the drug kingpins in an attempt to save the gullible society from losing its productivity to the vice. The drug abuse resulted in many crimes since the addicted persons who were in habit of committing crimes in exchange for drugs. The government has to ensure that its fight against the drug cartels is successful to achieve social justice in the society (Mendes & Fagan, 2016). This can only be achieved if the federal government is able to prevent the street drug suppliers to establish links with the big drug cartels. Drug manufacture, illegal importation, and distribution are some of the critical aspects that the government addressed in its pursuit of fighting the drug problem. Further, the government sought to combat the drug cartels through coercing the minor drug users to part with credible leads on their activities.
Drug addiction leads to mental illnesses, chronic illnesses, as well as death; hence, the government strives to take all necessary steps to fight this monster. Since the introduction of the anti-drug abuse law, the society has recorded a progressive transformation. The program has expanded globally with other nations and humanitarian organizations joining the fight against drug abuse. Furthermore, to completely achieve their agenda, governments and other stakeholders have introduced a lot many campaigns and rehabilitation centers to address the needs of the affected individuals in the society.
References
Burke, T. (2014). The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986: America’s Epidemic of Mass Incarceration & Social Injustice (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Toledo).
Kellam, S. G., Wang, W., Mackenzie, A. C., Brown, C. H., Ompad, D. C., Or, F., … & Windham, A. (2014). The impact of the Good Behavior Game, a universal classroom-based preventive intervention in first and second grades, on high-risk sexual behaviors and drug abuse and dependence disorders into young adulthood. Prevention Science, 15(1), 6-18.
Mendes, G., & Fagan, J. M. (2016). Incorporating Substance Abusers into Society Post-Incarceration: Using Community Outreach Programs to Break the Cycle of Repeat Incarcerations for Substance Abuse.
Pope Jr, H. G., Wood, R. I., Rogol, A., Nyberg, F., Bowers, L., & Bhasin, S. (2013). Adverse health consequences of performance-enhancing drugs: An Endocrine Society scientific statement. Endocrine Reviews, 35(3), 341-375.