n the authority over them. A criminal act is one that harms society, an action done deliberately for whatever motive that causes another person harm. Albeit, the statistical increase of drug related violent crime cannot be refuted, it can be directly correlated to the mishandling of drug users. We see a drug offender as a person who is a societal burden and even an outcast but the problem is much more complex than that. Our methods of handling a drug user have long been focused on incarceration followed by release with or without parole. Clearly an outcast and possibly a burden on society, but where did he choose this fate? To incarcerate a person who clearly needs rehabilitation creates a criminalized social deviant. The chance we have given the convicted drug offender to lead a successful life is non-existant.

Drug users must be looked at in a continuum, a progressive behavior that quickly escalates into a lifestyle that is not socially acceptable in our soc

marijuana cigarette has done no more harm to society than a person J-walking across an empty highway. Problems arise when the occasional joint turns into cocaine addiction and eventually, violence or crime. The good thing about our society is that that can be prevented quite simply. We have the most advanced law enforcement system in the world and also one of the best communication networks as well. It is very unlikely that our teenager who "experimented" with pot will see the sunrise before he is bombarded with media information and advertising. And, if he does not heed the advise of the wise, it is even more unlikely that in his predicted continued use of marijuana he will have a run in with the law before he becomes that cocaine addict that mugged an elderly woman. This is where we fail. Let's assume that our teenage boy is a white, middle class freshman in college. He is picked up for possession of marijuana and given a court date. Our justice system will spend several hundred dollars prosecuting this delinquent child. He will acquire a criminal record and possibly be placed on a restricted lifestyle of some sort. Here we can see that he has not been treated, he has not been helped and in fact, our justice system has taken the first step in creating a social burden. With this standard method of adjudication, considering that a minimal after care program was completed (random drug testing), there is a sixty-two percent chance he will be in front of a judge in less than three years.

iety. The road to disaster is paved with the first high, that's not in dispute. The teenager who smokes

Suppose his grades are slipping and he loses his girlfriend, he decides to use heroin and likes it. He is soon addicted, worsening his depression, and deals a little for some cash to buy more and an undercover officer arrests him. Again, our j

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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)