Verified Document

Drug Abuse And Prostitution Researchers Term Paper

" Making "war" militarily on a medical/social problem makes no sense. In addition to the psychological problems of individuals, social conditions contribute greatly to the problem. People who are alienated from society become addicted to drugs, as Sen. Robert Kennedy pointed out back in 1965. Solving the drug problem means "solving poverty and broken homes, racial discrimination and inadequate education, slums and unemployment" (cited in Goldberg, 2005 p. 11), not to mention child abuse. Instead, we treat prostitutes as though they were scum. A New York study has shown that the police, the courts, and their clients (johns) routinely mistreat them in a manner that violates civil liberties and human rights. This is "mirrored at the judicial level, where sex workers bear the brunt of the criminal justice system while johns usually get off relatively lightly" (Facts about prostitution web site). Until the complex, hard-core social problems are addressed in a meaningful way, drug use will continue to be a problem. Drug use is a symptom of societal sickness, and making "war" on a symptom without addressing the disease itself is useless, expensive, and makes everything worse. Sanho Tree (Goldberg, 2005) points out that "By treating this as a criminal justice problem, our range of solutions has been sharply limited" (p. 11). In other words, we have cut ourselves off from social policies that might actually reduce the problem.

Controlled decriminalization would allow our society to seek other more productive ways to control and reduce drug abuse. If drug use were decriminalized, the problem of prostitution would decrease dramatically. The $20 billion a year we now spend on controlling drug traffic could be used more effectively to address other social problems. Effective or not, the system we now have has...

But doing more of the same will never produce a different result.
References

America's drug abuse profile web site. Retrieved 23 April 2007 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/htm/chapter2.htm.

Facts about prostution web site. Sex Workers and Civil Rights. Retrieved 22 April 2007 from http://www.rapeis.org/activism/prostitution/sexworkerscivilrights.htm

Goldberg, R. (Ed.) (2005). Taking sides: Clashing views in drugs and society, 7th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.

Goldstein, P.J. (1979. Prostitution and drugs. Lexington, MA: Lexington

Books.

Heroin -- New York drug threat assessment. National Drug Intelligence Center. Retrieved 23 April 2007 from http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs2/2580/heroin.htm

Kerr, P. (1988). Young crack addicts find there's no help for them. New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2007 from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res+940DE7DC103AF931A35756COA96

Medrano, M.A., Hatch, J.P., Zule, W.A. And Desmond, D.P. (2003). Childhood trauma and adult prostitution behavior in a multiethnic heterosexual drug-using population. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 29 (2), 463-487.

Potterat, J.J., Rothenberg, R.B., Muth, S.Q., Darrow, W.W. And Phillips-Plummer, L. (1998). Pathways to prostitution: The chronology of sexual and drug abuse milestones. The Journal of Sex Research, 35 (4), 333-348.

Yacoubian, G.S., Urbach, B.J., Larsen, K.L., Johnson, R.J. And Peters, R.J. (2000). A comparison of drug use between prostitutes and other female arrestees. Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education, 46 (2), 12-26.

Young, a.M., Boyd, C. And Hubbell, a. (2000). Prostitution, drug use, and…

Sources used in this document:
References

America's drug abuse profile web site. Retrieved 23 April 2007 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/htm/chapter2.htm.

Facts about prostution web site. Sex Workers and Civil Rights. Retrieved 22 April 2007 from http://www.rapeis.org/activism/prostitution/sexworkerscivilrights.htm

Goldberg, R. (Ed.) (2005). Taking sides: Clashing views in drugs and society, 7th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin.

Goldstein, P.J. (1979. Prostitution and drugs. Lexington, MA: Lexington
Heroin -- New York drug threat assessment. National Drug Intelligence Center. Retrieved 23 April 2007 from http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs2/2580/heroin.htm
Kerr, P. (1988). Young crack addicts find there's no help for them. New York Times. Retrieved 22 April 2007 from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res+940DE7DC103AF931A35756COA96
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Drug Enforcement Strategies
Words: 2653 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

In jails, not one of the violent criminals was under the influence of heroin at the time their crime was committed. Twenty-one percent of state inmates incarcerated for violent crime were under the influence of alcohol alone at the time they committed their crime. The number of those under the influence of marijuana alone was too small to be recorded statistically. (National 1998) These facts indicate that it is

Drugs and Society Our Society
Words: 1307 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

The government regulating of drugs use is one of those elements which are somewhat affected by such an approach. The government regulates both illegal and legal drugs in order to both maximize profits for American companies and minimize profits for foreign capitol. There are strict regulations on pharmaceuticals within the country. Also, many people posit money leaving American hands as a major underlying cause of the government's regulations of

Punitive Drug Prohibition
Words: 2323 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

Alcohol Prohibition from 1920 to 1933 did not work. There are many parallels from this failed effort and the current laws prohibiting drugs in the United States. Alcohol prohibition was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve the health of Americans. According to research, alcohol consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, but then it

Effects of Early Childhood Sexual Abuse and Involvement in Prostitution...
Words: 16088 Length: 30 Document Type:

CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ON WOMEN INVOLVED IN PROSTITUTION Conceptual Paper Millions of children around the globe are sexually abused or exploited. This paper includes several descriptions of studies that relate sexual abuse during childhood to delinquency later in life. There are several difficulties with methodology and definitions that are inherent in the mentioned studies. These challenges make it somewhat difficult to compare and interpret the findings of the study. A framework

Abuse and Pregnant Women
Words: 13948 Length: 40 Document Type: Capstone Project

Violence against pregnant women is a commonplace phenomenon and this research paper will explain the background of violence against pregnant women. Women undergo different forms of violence for instance, beating, threats, raping and unwilling prostitution. Some years back, it wasn't a big issue as approach towards women was a tad bit different back then. Men were treated as the dominant sex due to their physical strength. So is the case

London Housing Issues
Words: 11592 Length: 31 Document Type: Essay

London Housing The research was undertaken to study the link between inequality and depravity, poverty and crime in the housing structures of London. The study found that there is wide spread economic disparity in London. This divide is evident in the living styles and the types of housing structures that people live in. The council or housing estates of the city are primarily the residences of the lower income families. This

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now