Gillespie, N. (2019). All Drug Offenders Should Be Treated Like Hunter Biden: Leniently. Reason.
In his article, Gillespie (2019) addresses the legal treatment of drug offenders and argues that they should be treated leniently. The basis of his argument is Hunter Biden’s case whereby being caught in illegal drug use attracted no legal repercussions to the son of Joe Biden. It would be expected that since Joe Biden was on the frontline of advocating for heavily charging illegal; substance users, his son would not be exempt from the law. As noted in the article, Hunter Biden benefitted from his father’s political position and evaded all charges, just as he had used his connections to enrich himself (Gillespie, 2019). It is also noted that Hunter’s ex-wife complained of his extravagant spending on illegal drugs when signing the divorce papers.
Koetzle, D., Listwan, S. J., Guastaferro, W. P., & Kobus, K. (2015). Treating high-risk offenders in the community. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology.
The effectiveness of drug courts is discussed by Koetzle et al. (2015) in their article which compares drug courts to probationers. According to the authors, drug courts have been more effective in reducing recidivism rates. Basing their study on the rates of new drug charges, Koetzle et al. (2015) note that refining the target population through drug courts would be the most effective way of reducing illegal substance use.
Underwood, K. (2016). Why Do Drug Dealers Serve Longer Sentences Than Rapists?Odyssey.
The article by Underwood (2016) presents a critical analysis of the American Justice system based on the comparison between punishments accorded to drug users and those given to rapists. According to the article, illegal substance users were longer terms in prison compared to rapists, a rather perplexing situation. Many would expect that rapists would get heavier punishments due to the weight of the offenses. However, Underwood(2016) notes that the longer terms of illegal drug users are meant to curb the practice, thus minimizing the heavy economic impact it has. The article also reveals that although many have been locked in prisons, the heavy punishments and rehabilitation efforts cannot be termed as successful in curbing the demand for illegal drugs.