Illegal drugs workplace. hy bad business'.
Illegal drugs in the workplace
Illegal drug use can have a particularly damaging effect on a company when it is being performed by an employee. In addition to affecting their health and their families, drugs can also affect the companies individuals work in and for the industry as a whole. Drug use, abuse, or dependence can make people be less productive, spend less time at work, physically harm themselves or others, steal, and have a low self-esteem that can influence other colleagues. Health care is likely to increase in such situations and the company might face legal liabilities. Illegal drug use in the workplace is a serious problem in the contemporary society as more and more companies lose significant ground as a result of having employees who consume drugs.
Many fail to identify illegal drug users because they think about a series of stereotypes when coming across…...
mlaWorks cited:
"ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS IN THE WORKPLACE," retrieved April 21, 2013, from the New South Wales Government Website: http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx
"Drugs and the Workplace," Retrieved April 21, 2013, from the NCADD Website: http://www.ncadd.org/index.php/learn-about-drugs/workplace/242-drugs-and-the-workplace
"America's Drug Problem "Retrieved April 21, 2013, from the DRUGFREEWORKPLACE Website: http://www.drugfreeworkplace.com/employers/drug-free-workplace.php
, 1995).
Some of laws and restrictions imposed by USA between 1960 and 1997 are as follows:
1) "Drug Abuse Control Amendments-- referred to amphetamines, barbiturates and LSD as dangerous drugs and allowed for FDA to recommend to Department of Health Education and Welfare to control them and other drugs that may later be deemed a problem. (1965)" (History of Drug Laws and estrictions in the U.S., reference 4)
2) "Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (Controlled Substance Act of 1970) 3) Drug Analogue and Anti-Drug Abuse Acts-- the Drug Analogue act was enacted to deal with "designer" drugs, allowing immediate classification of a substance as a controlled substance (1986)" (History of Drug Laws and estrictions in the U.S., reference 4)
3) " the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act restricts access to chemicals and equipment used in the manufacture of methamphetamine." (History of Drug Laws and estrictions in the U.S., reference 4)
In…...
mlaReferences
Harrison, Lana D., Michael Backenheimer and James a. Inciardi (1995), Cannabis use in the United States: Implications for policy. in: Peter Cohen & Arjan Sas (Eds) (1996), Centrum voor Drugsonderzoek, Universiteit van Amsterdam. pp. 237-247.
Russell Fox and Ian Matthews, Drug policy: Fact, Fiction and the future, the Federation Press 1992
John C. McWilliams, the Protectors.Harry J. Anslinger and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 1930-1962, Newark, University of Delaware Press, 1990, pp. 63-80.
History of drug laws and restrictions in U.S.: http://mrs.umn.edu/~ratliffj/drug_laws.htm
Illegal Drugs in U.S.
Annotated Bibliography
Annotate Bibliography on Illegal Drug Laws and Issues in the U.S.
Annotate Bibliography on Illegal Drug Laws and Issues in the U.S.
This work will develop a concept that is associated with the history of illegal drugs in the United States and briefly touches on the issue of how the laws surrounding illegal drugs have changed in the United States over the years. The work will be comprised of a brief annotated bibliography which will explore through credible sources, books and journal articles the issue of illegal drugs and their evolution as the impetus for the so called modern "war on drugs" that commenced in the 1980s and continues today with foundational consequences for the incarceration rates in the U.S. And that has far reaching social implications stemming from it. The work will take the form of an alphabetical rather than topical bibliography and each entry will…...
illegal drugs and why they should be legalized. It is not that Block and Steinbeck disagree about making drugs legal, but that they disagree about why that should be done. Block's argument is mostly economic in nature, while Steinbeck's argument is much more geared toward the reduction of overcrowding in prisons. She argues that much of the crime that is related to drugs is because those drugs are illegal and people are committing crimes to get them. If they were legal, she believes, much of the criminal activity that takes place in order to get them would go away. While this is somewhat persuasive, people who want drugs and cannot afford them are still going to commit crimes to get them, whether they are legal or not. For Block the argument is more persuasive, because legalizing drugs would allow for a great deal of money to be made from…...
Drug Legalization
LEGALIZATION OF ECEATIONAL DUG USE
In 1920 the sale and consumption of alcohol was criminalized across the United
States pursuant to the 18th Amendment. Consumer demand nevertheless presented a ripe opportunity for criminal usurpation of the illicit production and distribution of alcohol.
Consequently, by the time Prohibition was subsequently repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933, the criminal enterprises that it had spawned were so firmly entrenched into the landscape of the American economy that most of them still retain considerable power even today (Dershowitz, 2002).
Modern proponents of decriminalizing illicit drugs point to the complete failure of Prohibition to achieve its goals, suggesting that contemporary laws criminalizing recreational drugs such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine are as ineffective as was the 18th
Amendment, and more harmful to society than the aggregate of all the actual harm caused by the unrestricted use of recreational drugs.
Predictably, those opposed to decriminalization fear the explosion of drug…...
mlaReferences
Brecher, E.M. (1972) Licit and Illicit Drugs: The Consumers Union Report.
Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Dershowitz, A. (2002) Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age
New York: Little Brown & Co.
When identifying, collecting, and preserving loose material that can leak and spill like marijuana, the substances should be properly sealed. Some examples of illegal drugs should be taken to the laboratory in a sealed package for examination ("Evidence Collection Guidelines," n.d.).
Sealing:
The other major issue in identifying, collecting, and preserving illegal drugs for evidence in criminal investigations is sealing. There is need for the evidence to be sealed properly to ensure that it has not been compromised, altered, or lost during preservation. In most cases, the individual packaging the evidence is required to initial and date across the seal as a means for making it tamper-proof and detectable if interfered with. Some of the most common ways for packaging and sealing the evidence incorporate the use of heat seals such as ask tapes and paper clips and evidence tapes like staples.
While sealing can be done through various ways, it's an…...
mlaReferences:
"Evidence Collection Guidelines." Crime Scene Investigator Network. Retrieved May 18, 2012,
from http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/collect.html
Wampler, R.L. (2011, December 13). Physical Evidence Manual. Retrieved from Oregon State
Police -- Forensic Services Division website: http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/FORENSICS/docs/PhysEvidenceManual12_13_11.pdf?ga=t
Substance Abuse Inside the Prison alls: Controlling Illegal Drugs in Prison
It is most often within the prison milieu that dependence and an addiction to drugs and other substances takes place. This is attributed to the various stress factors that an individual within the four walls of the prison is generally subjected to, and studies have shown that the risk of a person developing substance dependence, and an over representation of the number of people with a drug problem increases significantly within the prison. (Drug Prevention Outside and Inside Prison alls)
In a report complied by CBC New Online Staff, on April 8, 2004, entitled 'Disease rates higher in Canadian inmates' stated that prison inmates are more likely than other citizens to suffer form a variety of physical as well as mental problems, contract any type of infectious diseases, and also die more prematurely than others. Furthermore, the Report stated that the…...
mlaWorks Cited
Blanchfield, Mike; Bronskill, Jim. (October 13, 1998) "Prisoner Experiments Haunt
Inmates" Retrieved From http://www.aches-mc.org/prison.html
Accessed on 15 August, 2005
"Drugs Policy and Strategy, Northern Ireland Prison Service" Retrieved From
Drugs and Behavior
What are drugs exactly and what are some ways drug users get away with illegal usage?
Defining drugs use is a surprisingly difficult proposition. The definition as stated in the session II review is as follows: "any substance taken into the body that alters the function or structure of the body organs ... that changes body state or mental function." But this definition might not only apply to the substances that we would normally consider to be a "drug," but also to substances like chocolate. For example, chocolate has properties that have been shown to change body state and mental function by making a user feel happier for example. Furthermore, drugs can also be naturally occurring substances such as marijuana or mushrooms and thus cannot be further classified in regards to being synthetic substances. There are also countless useful drugs that significantly improve an individual's well-being. Thus the divisions…...
mlaReferences
OHSINC. (N.d.). How to Beat a Drug Test. Retrieved from OHSINC: http://www.ohsinc.com/info/how-to-cheat-a-drug-test/
The Economist. (2015, July 16). President Obama for the prisoners. Retrieved from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2015/07/criminal-justice-reform
The White House. (N.d.). Prescription Drug Abuse. Retrieved from Office of National Drug Control Policy: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/prescription-drug-abuse
The first method, therefore, of curtailing use relates to the development of tougher measures for soldiers once they have failed a drug test. Prevention programs should be given a higher priority than is currently the case. ith stronger prevention programs, and if commanding officers are more willing to put troops who have failed drug tests into those programs, more soldiers can see their drug use curtailed.
The second method is related to the first -- prevention programs. If stress in its various forms is a major cause of illegal drug use among soldiers, then there needs to be more awareness of the issue in the military community, and more help available to soldiers before they start using. Training for all members of the military community would allow for the creation of an informal support grid for soldiers experiencing stress. Programs that give soldiers a place to turn to when they feel…...
mlaWorks Cited:
Gilmore, G. (2011). DoD urinalysis test (drug test). About.com. Retrieved September 7, 2011 from http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/l/bldrugtests2.htm
Jacobson, I.; Ryan, M.; Hooper, T.; Smith, T.; Amoroso, P.; Boyko, E.; Gackstetter, G.; Wells, T. & Bell, N. (2008). Alcohol use and alcohol-related problems before and after military combat deployment. Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol. 300 (6) 663-675.
NIDA. (2011). Substance abuse among the military, veterans and their families. National Institute of Drug Abuse. Retrieved September 7, 2011 from http://www.nida.nih.gov/tib/vet.html
Zoroya, G. (2009). Army blasted for letting drug abusers slide. USA Today. Retrieved September 7, 2011 from http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-05-20-drug_N.htm
"As a case in point we may take the known fact of the prevalence of reefer and dope addiction in Negro areas. This is essentially explained in terms of poverty, slum living, and broken families, yet it would be easy to show the lack of drug addiction among other ethnic groups where the same conditions apply." Inciardi 248()
Socio-economic effects
Legalizing drugs has been deemed to have many socio-economic effects. A study that was conducted by Jeffrey a. Miron, who was a Harvard economist estimated that by legalizing drugs, this would inject about $76.8 billion in to the U.S. every year. 44.1 billion dollars would come from savings made from the law enforcement measures and 32.7 billion would be from tax revenue. This revenue can be thought to be broken down as follows: 6.7 billion dollars from marijuana, 22.5 billion from heroin and cocaine and the rest from the other minority drugs…...
mlaReferences
Blumenson, Eric, and Eva S. Nilsen. How to Construct an Underclass, or How the War on Drugs Became a War on Education. Massachusetts: Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts, 2002. Print.
Campos, Isaac. "Degeneration and the Origins of Mexico's War on Drugs." Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos 26.2 (2010): 379-408. Print.
Chabat, Jorge. "Mexico's War on Drugs: No Margin for Maneuver." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 582.ArticleType: research-article / Issue Title: Cross-National Drug Policy / Full publication date: Jul., 2002 / Copyright © 2002 American Academy of Political and Social Science (2002): 134-48. Print.
Council on Hemispheric Affairs. "Low Taxation Perpetuates Insecurity in Central America." 2011. May 5th 2012. .
Drug Profile
Drug addiction is a human issue that cultivates biological, psychological, and social consequences, among others. The manifestation of addiction itself is characterized by physical dependence, and is defined by the uncontrollable, compulsive urge to seek and use drugs despite harmful repercussions (Fernandez, odriguez & Villa, 2011). Philologically, drug use affects the reward center, where dopamine receptors are over-stimulated. Ultimately, the repetition of drug use is encouraged to achieve the same, heightened, pleasure response (U.S. DHHS, 2007). Psychological responses to drug use may reflect motivations caused by positive pleasure, anxiety, or protection. The bodily effects of drugs often reflect the drug's class: stimulants, depressants, narcotics, hallucinogen, and cannabis. Each class represents various drugs and causes distinct biochemical responses. In addition to illicit drugs, prescription drugs are also highly abused and are categorized within the drug classes. Drug addiction does not discriminate between gender, race, sexual orientation or creed, and its…...
mlaReferences
Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (CDMHAS). (n.d.). Drugs with addictive potential. Retrieved 08 March 2012 from: http://www.ctclearinghouse.org/topics/customer-files/Drugs-with-Addictive-Potential-071105.pdf
Coon, D., & Mitterer, J. (2009). Psychology: A journey. (1st ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Fernandez, G., Rodriguez, O., & Villa, R. (2011). Neuropsychology and drug addiction. Papeles del Psicologo, 32(2), 159-165.
Hyman, S., & Malenka, R. (2001). Addiction and the brain: The neurobiology of compulsion and its persistence. Neuroscience, 2, 695-703.
Drug Tests and Government Benefits
Recently, there has been discussion regarding government benefits, such as unemployment. This discussion has focused on a new, potential requirement to receive benefits such as welfare: drug testing. People who are applying for benefits like welfare or unemployment would have to be tested for illegal drugs (Alcindor, 2012). If they were found to use drugs, they could be denied benefits. This would seen to make sense, because those who are out of work and needing government assistance should not be spending the money they do receive on illegal drugs or other nefarious activities. However, the American taxpayers are concerned about where the money for the drug tests will come from, and the federal government is already stating that states which pass this drug testing law for benefits will be in violation of federal law. That means these states could lose out on millions of dollars of…...
mlaWorks Cited
Adams, Brooke. (26 March 2012). Guv signs off on welfare recipient drug-screening program. The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53795131-90/cash-continue-drug-guv.html.csp
Alcindor, Yamiche (29 February 2012). States consider drug testing welfare recipients. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-02-17/welfare-food-stamps-drug-testing-laws/53306804/1
Hoover, Tim. (29 March 2012). Bill to drug test welfare recipients dies in Colorado House in second reading. Denver Post. Retrieved from http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20283105/drug-test-welfare-bill-dies-colorado-house-second?source=rss
Rivas, Jorge. (25 August 2011). 96% of Florida welfare applicants pass drug test, discredit Tea Party gov. ColorLines. Retrieved from http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/98_of_florida_welfare_applicants_pass_newly_implemented_drug_tests_discrediting_governor.html
Drug Law Reform (Pro)
According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the United States' policy on illegal drugs is threefold: stopping drug use before it starts, healing the country's drug users, and disrupting the market. The United States' war on drugs has been going on for at least the last three decades. Given the duration of this war, some have questioned the effectiveness of it, wondering if the money spent is really making a difference and bringing about results.
Actually, the effects of this policy on illegal drugs have been mixed. According to a study conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) covering current and emerging trends in drug abuse for 21 major U.S. metropolitan areas, some drugs are decreasing in use while others are increasing. For example:
C]rack accounted for a substantially greater percentage of primary admissions than powder cocaine in all [surveyed] sites. However, indicators suggest…...
mlaBibliography
InfoFacts Nationwide Trends. The National Institute on Drug Abuse. 2003. http://www.drugabuse.gov/Infofax/nationtrends.html .
The Office of National Drug Control Policy. 2003. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/index.html .
Drug Crime
Does research evidence suggest that current policies on drugs and crime are still appropriate?
While "tough" policies designed to curb drug use and distribution are attractive politically, and look good on paper, research shows that such policies are no longer appropriate. Instead of responding to drug use as a public health problem, governments like that of the United States and the United Kingdom still regards criminalization as "the sine qua non-of responsible policy-making," (Downes and Morgan, 2007, p. 212). Unfortunately, the criminalization approach happens to also be irresponsible policy making based on emotion rather than fact. Governments with criminalization policies like the United States and Great Britain show a disturbing "state of denial" about the way criminalization creates and enhances organized crime, and may have even exacerbated some types of substance abuse (Downes and Morgan, 2007, p. 212).
Drug use patterns have also changed dramatically, requiring an intelligent shift in public…...
mlaReferences
Downes, D. And Morgan, R. (1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007) in M. Maguire, M. Morgan and R. Reiner (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
South, N. (2007) 'Drugs, Alcohol and Crime' in M. Maguire, R. Morgan, and R. Reiner (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (4th edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Economists are concerned with the impact that the sale of drugs has on both individual and economic freedoms and frame their argument from this perspective. Others argue that reliance on the criminal justice system has not produced significant results and that it is time to reframe the argument to focus on the education, prevention, and treatment of drugs.
From the economic perspective, there are apparent differences between government prohibition and legalization of drugs. It has been estimated that total government expenditures devoted to the enforcement of drug laws is well in excess of $26 billion. These figures are also significant in state and local law enforcement agencies with drug related incidents making up one fifth of the total investigative resources and drug enforcement activities. Approximately 25% of the total prison population, municipal, state and federal, is made up of drug law violators. In fact, ten percent of all arrests are…...
mlaReferences
Millhorn, M., Monoghan, M., Montero, D., Reyes, M., Roman, T., Tollasken, R., & Walls, B. (2009). North Americans' attitudes toward illegal drugs. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 19(2), 125-141.
Miron, J.A. (2001). The economics of drug prohibition and drug legalization. Social Research, 68(3), 835-855.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (1998). The economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse in the United States. National Institute of Health Publication, 98-4327.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2009, April). National household survey on drug abuse main findings, 1998.
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