Chapter 10 Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking

Chapter Outline

Introduction

Drug Abuse

The Problem of Definition

Alcohol Prohibition and Regulation

Controlled Substances

Possession of Controlled Substances

Possession of Drug Paraphernalia

The Manufacture, Prescription, and Sale of Drugs

The Nature and Extent of Drug Abuse

The Impact of Drug Abuse

Drugs and Crime

Health and Other Problems

Club Drugs, Alcohol, and Campus Crime

Federal Laws and Club Drugs

State Laws and Club Drugs

Education about Club Drugs

Fetal Abuse

The Economic Cost of Drug Abuse

The Impact of Drugs on Criminal Justice Systems

Impact on the Courts

Influence over Law Enforcement Officials

Prison and Jail Overcrowding

Drug Trafficking

The Dynamics of Drug Trafficking

Money Laundering

Federal Statutes

State Statutes

The Control of Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking

The Federal Level

The U.S. War on Drugs: A Brief History

Recent White House Drug Policies

The State Level

Rockefeller and Other Harsh Laws

Substance Abuse and Treatment

Drug Courts

Legalizing Marijuana for Medicinal Purposes

Summary

Study Questions

For Debate

Key Terms

Case Analysis

Internet Activity

Notes

Key Terms

Attorney client privilege: Prohibits attorneys from revealing to others information told to them

by their clients.

Controlled substances: Any drug that a given statute characterizes as such.

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Declaratory relief: Prohibiting the enforcement of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA)

to the extent that it prevents anyone from possessing, obtaining, or manufacturing cannabis for

their personal medical use.

Drug: As defined in Black’s Law Dictionary, an article intended for use in the diagnosis, cure,

mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in humans or other animals and any article other

than food intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or other animals

Drug abuse: Referring to the illegal use of drugs even if the user in question is not addicted to

drugs, but also considering the legal use of some drugs that can be harmful or even fatal (such as

alcohol consumed by an adult pregnant woman).

Drug trafficking: The illegal sale of or dealing in controlled substances.

Fetal abuse: A concern related to the use of alcohol and other drugs that may lead to stillborn

babies or babies with serious birth defects.

Money laundering: A process of concealing the existence, source, and disposition of money

secured from illegal sources.

Witness Protection Program: A program sponsored by the U.S. Marshals that provides a new

identity and a new location for persons who aid the government in dangerous high-profile

prosecutions.

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Chapter Overview

Drugs and drug use have been a serious social problem for the nation for some years. In the

very recent past the war on drugs has also made it a serious problem for the criminal justice

system. The effort here is to connect the impact of drugs, and the impact of the war on drugs,

to a larger social setting, including a myriad of problems associated with both.

Defining drug use and drug abuse is difficult. Drug use in the nation has undergone some

significant ups and downs, each with consequences.

There is a connection between drugs, alcohol, and crime. It is not that drugs cause crime;

rather, adults who use drugs are far more likely to be involved in other crimes than are those

who do not. About one-half of all homicides are committed by persons who are under the

influence of alcohol. Drugs are one of the primary factors in date rape. Enforcement is

difficult, however, as new synthetic drugs are developed all the time, often leaving the

statutes behind. Many teenagers who are violent abuse alcohol and drugs. Teenagers who

commit suicide are typically substance abusers, and abuse is closely associated with

increases in fetal abuse.

Teenage suicide is increasingly problematic and is often associated with other violence.

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The economic costs of drug abuse and drug-related crime are horrendous. Economic damage

affects individuals, families, the workplace, the police, the courts, and the prisons and jails. It

affects communities, schools, and universities. All effects are negative.

Drug trafficking is difficult to detect and frequently involves violence. Money laundering is a

common behavior related to drug trafficking, as profits must be hidden. Enforcement is

complicated by the ineffectiveness of the justice systems in nations where drug cartels

function at will.

There are many responses to drug trafficking and abuse. Some of the policy initiatives are on

the federal level; others are on the state and local levels. Critics focus on the costs of the war

on drugs and the negative consequences it has caused.

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter the student will:

1. Be able to discuss the problem of defining drug abuse.

2. Be able to describe the impact of drug abuse on communities, on infant mortality, and

on infant abuse as well as the economic cost of drug abuse.

3. Be able to discuss the impact of drug use and abuse on the criminal justice. system.

4. Be able to define money laundering.

5. Be able to discuss the history of the war on drugs from the national perspective.

6. Be able to explain substance abuse and treatment programs at the state level.

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7. Be able to explain what a drug court is.

8. Be able to discuss the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes and

identify the jurisdictions that have attempted to do so.

Review Questions

1. Discuss the difficulty of defining drug abuse as a moral issue or a disease.

2. Discuss the impact of drug abuse on communities, the criminal justice system, and the

economic system in the United States.

3. What is money laundering?

4. Briefly discuss the history of the war on drugs from the national perspective in the United

States.

5. Explain what a drug court is as well as its purpose.

6. Discuss both sides of the argument regarding the legalization of marijuana usage for

medicinal purposes.

7. Identify which jurisdictions have attempted through state statutes to legalize marijuana use

for medicinal purposes.

8. Discuss alcohol prohibition and regulation. Which amendment implemented prohibition in

the United States? Which amendment repealed prohibition?

9. What are controlled substances? Explain possession of controlled substances. What is the

difference between actual and constructive possession?

10. Discuss the various impacts of drug abuse.

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Multiple Choice Questions

1. Drug abuse appears to be related to child abuse in that approximately ______ of drug abuse

center patients report that they were sexually abused when they were children.

a. one-third

b. two-thirds

c. one-fifth

d. one-half

2. There is evidence that substance abuse among teens is associated with juvenile and _________

acts.

a. criminal

b. civil

c. adult

d. suicidal

3. The Bank Secrecy Act required that banks must report any domestic transactions of more than

what amount of money?

a. $5,000

b. $10,000

c. $15,000

d. $20,000

4. Arrests for ________________ lead all other crimes in estimated arrests

a. drug-defined offenses

b. a drug addict offenses

c. drug-related offenses

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d. all of these

5. [A] primary purpose of the _____ is to control the supply and demand of controlled substances

in both lawful and unlawful drug markets.

a. CSA

b. CIA

c. FBI

d. TSA

6. Which of the following is sponsored by the U.S. Marshals and provides a new identity and a

new location for persons who aid the government in dangerous high-profile prosecutions?

a. Bank Secrecy Act

b. Witness Protection Program

c. The Innocence Project

d. USA Patriot Act

7. Recidivism is defined as:

a. a major aspect of the war on drugs initiated by President Richard M. Nixon.

b. further violations of the law by released suspects or inmates or noncriminal violations

of conditions by probationers and parolees.

c. the processes of receiving, distributing, and selling drugs.

d. the length of time available for bringing charges on a particular crime.

8. Stealing drugs or money for personal use from sellers and users without arresting them is just

one of the many examples of:

a. extortion.

b. money laundering.

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c. bribery.

d. law enforcement corruption.

9. Drugs are brought into the country by:

a. couriers.

b. tenders.

c. arbitrators.

d. mediators.

10. The American Social Health Association defines _________________ as “the use of mood

modifying chemicals outside of medical supervision, and in a manner which is harmful to

the person and the community.”

a. drug abuse

b. drug trafficking

c. fetal alcohol syndrome

d. Stockholm syndrome

11. Drugs such as __________ and ________ are helpful in the treatment of cancer pain, nausea

due to radiation and chemotherapy, and glaucoma (an eye disease that results in the loss of vision

and can cause blindness).

a. methamphetamine and heroin

b. marijuana and Ecstacy

c. marijuana and heroin

d. opium and morphine

12. Which of the following is true in regard to gang activity?

a. Two social science researchers found little correlation between the presence of gangs

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and the presence of drugs and guns in schools.

b. Because of outside terrorist attacks, gangs are being viewed as a low threat to the

country.

c. Today’s gangs are more likely to be involved in illegal drugs and to be violent.

d. Gang activity seems to be decreasing instead of increasing.

13. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) stated that the top medical problems in the

United States are “directly linked to _________.”

a. drug addicts

b. drug abuse

c. child abuse

d. alcohol

14. The category of drugs that receives the highest regulation by the federal Controlled

Substances Act is Schedule ________ drugs.

a. I

b. II

c. III

d. IV

15. The Reducing Americans’ Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act of 2002 was designed to cut

down on the presence of drugs in:

a. colleges.

b. gangs.

c. prisons.

d. clubs.

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16. Statutes that went into effect in 1973 in New York, which increased the penalties for drug

possession and the sale of drugs, were called _______________ laws.

a. Rockefeller

b. Pataki

c. New York Marijuana Reform

d. drug policy

17. Which of the following is supervised by a sitting judge and is an intensive, community-based

treatment, rehabilitation, and supervision program for drug defendants?

a. the Sentencing Project

b. drug court

c. Proposition 215

d. the war on drugs

18. The challenge now for those who believe marijuana should be permitted for medicinal

reasons is to convince Congress to amend:

a. Public Acts 665, 666, and 670.

b. Proposition 215.

c. the USA Patriot Act.

d. the Controlled Substances Act.

19. The boldest example of a return to the treatment of drug offenders is that of:

a. Oklahoma.

b. New York.

c. California.

d. Texas.

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20. The denial to some sick people of the drugs needed for treatment, costing billions of dollars

while showing little success, and whether the government’s approach has a differential

impact on persons of color and the poor are all criticisms of:

a. drug courts.

b. the war on drugs.

c. the USA Patriot Act.

d. Rockefeller laws.

Fill-in-the-Blank Questions

1. ___________________ The doctrine that prohibits attorneys from revealing to others

information told to them by their clients. The privilege belongs with the clients; so they can, if

they choose to do so, release their attorneys from this confidential relationship.

2. __________________ A substance used to alter the body or mind of a living being; may be

harmful or fatal.

3. __________________ The chronic or periodic misuse of alcohol or other drugs. It is

considered detrimental to society as well as to the individual abuser. It may occur even if the

substance has been prescribed by the individual’s physician.

4. __________________ Trading in illegal drugs.

5. __________________ Further violations of the law by released suspects or inmates or

noncriminal violations of conditions by probationers and parolees.

6. __________________ A program sponsored by the U.S. Marshals; it provides a new identity

and a new location for persons who aid the government in dangerous high-profile

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prosecutions or who, for other reasons, would be at risk in society without such protection.

7. __________________ A legal doctrine that permits a defendant to argue that an otherwise

criminal act was taken for the purposes of meeting a medical need.

8. __________________ Hiding the existence, illegal use of, or illegal source of income and

making that income appear legal by disguising it.

9. ____________ reports data from its annual survey on the abuse and illegal use of alcohol,

other drugs, and tobacco among nonstitutionalized populations ages 12 and over.

10. The highest rate of current illicit drug use was among people ages __________.

11. Most drug abuse arrests are for ________ of illegal drugs.

12. _______ is often called the date rape drug.

13. __________ cracks down on persons who put teenagers at risk of using Ecstasy or other club

drugs by prohibiting renting, leasing, or profiting from any place in which the drugs are used.

14. The National Institute on drug abuse estimates that the annual cost of substance abuse in the

United States is over _________ billion dollars.

15. Arrests for _____ ________ _______ lead all other crimes in estimated arrests (an estimated

1,638,846 arrests in 2010).

16. The Sentencing Commission emphasized that in 2010, more than _______ percent of the

inmates in prisons were racial and ethnic minorities.

17. One of the most widespread criminal problems in the world is _____ ___________.

18. In regard to money laundering, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the ________requirement

of the statute requires the government to prove that the defendant “acted with the knowledge

that the structuring he or she undertook was unlawful, not simply that the defendant’s

purpose was to circumvent a bank’s reporting obligation.”

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19. The ____________ laws were passed with two purposes in mind: (1) to frighten drug users

and drug dealers into quitting and (2) to curb drug-related crimes.

20. A _________ is an noncriminal offense.

21. The _______ ______ has been described as follows: “Supervised by a sitting judge, a drug

court is an intensive, community-based treatment, rehabilitation, and supervision program for

drug defendants.”

22. The war on drugs began in President ________’s administration.

Short Answer Questions

1. List three examples of the cost of substance abuse to employers.

2. List three effects the escalation of drug trafficking is having on society.

3. Give two examples of criticisms of the war on drugs.

4. What effect has the USA Patriot Act had on money-laundering statutes?

5. Describe what is meant by a drug court.

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ANSWER KEY

Multiple Choice Questions

1. b

2. a

3. b

4. c

5. a

6. b

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7. b

8. d

9. a

10. a

11. c

12. c

13. b

14. a

15. d

16. a

17. b

18. d

19. c

20. b

Fill-in-the-Blank Questions

1. attorney client privilege

2. drug abuse

3. drug abuse

4. trafficking

5. recidivism

6. Witness Protection Program

7. necessity defense

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8. money laundering

9. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

10. 18–20

11. possession

12. GHB

13. RAVE

14. 484

15. drug-related offenses

16. 60

17. drug trafficking

18. willfulness

19. Rockefeller

20. violation

21. drug court

22. Nixon

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