Crime in Sociology CH 15

Why do critics argue that laws against consensual crimes do more harm than good (there are six reasons)?

1. Increase police and other official corruption. 2. Lead consensual offenders to commit other types of crime that they would not commit if their behaviors were legal. 3. Generate public disrespect for the law. 4. Divert much time, money, and energy from fighting more serious crime to futile efforts to stop what so many people want to do. 5. Prompt law enforcement agencies to engage in wiretapping and other possible violations of civil liberties. 6. Provide much of the revenue for organized crime, which is all too willing to supply the goods and services prohibited by consensual crime laws but remaining in demand by large segments of the population.

The portrait of low illegal drug use is misleading for what two (2) reasons?

1. low percentages for drugs other than marijuana still translates into millions of people. 2. National self report surveys that provide this portrait exclude people whose illegal drug use is especially high: youths in juvenile detention centers, the homeless, runaway teenagers, and high school dropouts, all who are concentrated in our largest cities.

In recalling Prohibition, legalization proponents make what eight (8) points?

1.Drug laws create the very crime and other problems they are intended to stop. 2.Drug laws cost more than $50 billion annually, though millions of people still use illegal drugs. 3.Drug wars fill our prisons and jails with hundreds of thousands of people who would otherwise not be there. 4.Drug laws are good for organized crime. 5.Drug laws create opportunities for official corruption throughout the criminal justice system. 6.If illegal drugs were legalized and sold like any other product they could be taxed like any other product. 7.Drug eat has had a disproportionate impact on African American/ Latinos, who are much more likely than non latino whites to be arrested for illegal drug possession even though they do not use illegal drugs more often than whites do. 8.Enforcement of drug laws often involve the use of informants, wiretapping, and other legally distasteful procedures.

What is harm reduction?

A public policy strategy in which drug use is treated as a public health problem and not as a crime problem.

What are some arguments against legalization? What is the rebuttal to these arguments by legalization proponents?

Drug laws have indeed reduced the use of illegal drugs. It is by no means that certain that more people would use illegal drugs if they were made legal.

Which is cheaper, imprisoning nonviolent offenders for a year or drug treatment?

Drug treatment

What differences exist between male and female drug use?

Females are more likely than males to use illegal drugs to cope with depression and other psychological distress, often stemming from sexual abuse, whereas men are more likely to use illegal drugs for excitement. Motivation for illegal drugs use is financial. A final gender difference concerns the reaction to women who use illegal drugs during pregnancy.

What percent of male arrestees test positive for an illegal drug?

More than 60% percent of males arrestees test positive for an illegal drug.

What are the two (2) dimensions of the drug legalization debate (you should be able to briefly explain each argument)?

Philosophical- in a free society, people should be allowed to engage in risky behavior, including drug use. Social Scientific- considers a very important question of whether drug laws do more harm than good, consensual crime laws do more harm.

How would you summarize the answer to the question of whether drugs cause crime?

The extend that illegal drugs are connected to crime, the connection results primarily form laws against the drugs, rather than from their physiological or social effects.

How are consensual crimes distinct from other types of crime?

They involve people who participate in these behaviors willingly.

What is the deadliest drug of all? What is the second most deadly drug?

Tobacco. Alcohol.

Do more people die every year from tobacco or illegal drugs? Do more people die every year from alcohol or illegal drugs?

Yes. Yes.