Introduction
The increasing rate of drug use and drug abuse has been a matter of growing concern in the United States. The U.S government has undertaken a large number of preventive measures, altered legislations and even made constitutional amendments to tackle the ill effects of drug use among its citizens. However, how far these drug enforcement and control strategies and tactics, and preventive measures have been successful is debatable as one does not find any positive changes in the nation. This situation has forced many to advocate legalization of drug use rather than its deterrence in the nation. The paper tries to analyze the effects of the fourth amendment of U.S Constitution on the drug prevention in the nation and it tries to judge whether legalization, decriminalizing drug use and drug treatment could offer a better solution to the issue of drug use and drug abuse in the nation. The question should be raised as to whether drug treatment programs work and whether legalization is really the answer in terms of individual harm, societal harm, and economic harm. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, federal and state laws all play a vital role in maintaining the balance between individual freedoms, government interference and the protecting the rest of the community/society.
The fourth Amendment of the U.S Constitution paid special attention to drug testing as a means of identifying drug users among government officials, fire arm people, and railroad employees; it also aimed at deriving “some useful information for an accident investigation” and promoting “deterrence as well as detection of drug use.” ((n.d.), Drug Testing).
Main Text
The Drug detection policy also aimed at deterring drug use by the school children of the nation and made it mandatory that all the student athletes undergo the test. It considered the drug usage by children as important as that of the engineer or firearm men. There have been many tactics and strategies formulated by the government for the prevention of drug abuse and the Effective National Drug Control Strategy of 1999 assumes primary significance in this regard. It proposes the need for a new model of drug control in the nation that emphasizes on the need to preserve the public health of the nation and it draws the conclusions that “the current model of drug control: 1) does not reduce adolescent drug use; 2) does not reduce the supply of drugs; 3) does not reduce the harm caused by drugs.” (The Effective National drug Control Strategy 1999: The Need for a New Model of Drug Control). The vastness and the complexity of drug abuse in the United States is so high that it necessitates multifaceted tactics to prevent it: for this, traditional enforcement practices such as “street-level enforcement, mid-level investigation, major investigation, crop eradication and smuggling interdiction” need to be carefully implemented. (H. Williams, 2008).
However studies have proved that these traditional approaches and strategies were not competent enough in tackling the issue and this has given way to strategies like “problem-oriented policing strategies, community-oriented policing strategies, more financially oriented drug investigations, more extensive international co-operation and a renewed emphasis on drug demand reduction.” (H. Williams, 2008, Drug control strategies of United States law enforcement). All these strategies have resulted in more arrest and penalties; however the increasing rate of the crime remains the same.
Conclusion
The failure of the criminal laws, deterrence policies and the drug prohibition steps have forced many to think of alternative ways to bring down the number of people affected by various drugs. According to Goode it is essential that “the current system of prohibition be replaced with a system of drug legalization in one form or other”; this presupposes three major changes-legalization, decriminalization and a policy of harm reduction. (Goode, 2008, p.445). Once drug use is made legalized the government should see that it is based on a policy of harm reduction and no full decriminalization is made possible. Thus, it can be concluded that drug use and drug abuse in the United States can only be brought under control through legalization which is supported by the provision for needy drug addicts to have aces to the drugs, but through proper prescription from the part of the Governmental agencies.
References
Drug Testing. (n.d.). Amendment 4: Searches and seizure. 1335. 2008. Web.
Goode, Erich. (2008). Drugs in American society. 7th Ed. 445. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
H. Williams. (2008). Drug control strategies of United States law enforcement: Promising developments. Web.
H. Williams. (2008). Drug control strategies of United States law enforcement: Traditional enforcement practices. United Nations: Office on Drugs and Crimes. Web.
The effective national drug control strategy 1999: The need for a new model of drug control. 2008. Web.