Drug Laws

The Drug Laws

By: Aarron Buzzard

11/7/2011

CJA 354

Rick Rice

Drugs and drug crimes are some of the most serious offenses and lead to some of the most terrible crimes in the country and internationally. Not only are billions of dollars involved in drug crimes and cost states and the federal government a tremendous amount of time and money, but the money they generate for criminals continues to entice many to commit these crimes. Moreover, these crimes go beyond drugs but often include homicide, kidnapping, theft, burglary, weapons offenses, and even terrorism. The enforcement of drug laws in the country, moreover, due to the different state and federal laws, often make the enforcement of these laws difficult for many jurisdictions.

Congress enacted the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act in 1970 (Federal, 2010). The Act created five categories of drugs or schedules and then put penalties on the use, distribution, sale, or holding of these substances given the government’s belief regarding the seriousness of the drugs and their harms to society. Although most states’ drug laws mirror the federal laws, many state laws differ on the penalties applied to drug offenses that are entirely within state law control (Federal, 2010). The distinction between state and federal penalties occurs when a drug offense, its sale, use, holding, or other action is deemed to be entirely within state boundaries or when any activity with an illegal drug is deemed to impact interstate commerce (Amar, 2007).

The states follow the federal assessment of drugs that are controlled substances but several of them, such as Alaska; California; Colorado; Hawaii; Maine; Michigan; Montana; Nevada; New Jersey; New Mexico; Oregon; Rhode Island; Vermont; and Washington have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes (14 Legal Medical Marijuana States, 2010). Some of these states permit only medical research while others allow patients with specific illnesses to grow or hold a...