Demographic shifts refer to the population change in structure due to factors such as declining birth rates, increasing immigration and longer life expectancy. The majority demographic shift occurs when there are increased birth rates, low mortality rate, increased standard of living and increased level of immigrants. The minority demographic shift occurs when there declining birth rates, high mortality rate, and low immigration rates. The paper analyzed the effects of demographic shift on the drug policy in the United States and how the drug policy has impacted on the United States’ economy (Hess et al 12). The minority are mainly immigrants and other non-white Americans while the majorities are the white Americans.
Majority demographic shift in the United States
Research has established that white Americans are the racial majority while African Americans are the largest racial minority. The white was estimated to be 59% of the US population and the Africa America were estimated to be about 12.5% of the entire population. Hispanic and Latino America were the smallest minority. The total population is 325.7million and the population growth rate is about 0.72%. The reason for the steady increase in population was that most of the states were experiencing domestic migration and an increase in birth rates compared to the level of mortality rate (Hess et al 123). For example, between the year 2016 and the year 2017, there was a great population growth rate in South and West Carolina which accounted for more than 60% of the United States’ population. Other states that have recorded an increase in population over the years are the Oregon which grew in population at the rate of 1.7%, Colorado at 1.36%, Texas at 1.43%, Arizona at 1.56%, Florida at 1.59%, Washington at 1.7%, Utah at 1.9%, Nevada at 2% and Idaho at the rate of 2.5% and many others. The drug policy and the demographic shift was significant since it was the indicator for the success or failure in the fight against drugs in the United States.
The minority demographic shift in the United States
The United States Census Bureau projected that in 2045 there will be a minority white and this will be contributed to the decline in the birth rates among the whites unlike other races in the country. According to the US Census data, whites will comprise of36% of the children under 18 years old against the Hispanic that will account for 26%. The data, therefore, show that there will be a drastic shift in the population structure based on race and the most affected will be the white race (Hess et al 116). High death rates among the children under 18 years especially the white and a decline in death rate among Hispanic children were the reasons for the demographic shift. However, it was found that there is the unequal application of drug policy in different states and different racial groups in the United States.
The relationship between demographic shift and economic growth
The demographic shift has a significant bearing on the states and the performance of the economy. For instance, the demographic shifts determine the change of economic output in relation to changes in capital stock, labor stock and change in the states of technology.
The increase in the death rate c results to the reduction in the labor force that can cause production shortage and even reduce the marginal productivity. The United States’ economy is majorly made of service sector which is greatly affected by the demographic shift and the drugs. Research has shown that productivity gains have been diminishing as the working populations fall and this has increased the cost of maintaining the elderly in the United States. The decline in productivity was attributed to the high consumption of illicit drugs that has affected the economy more negatively. For example, the life expectancy among the retirees is in the rise and the birth rate among the white has fallen by almost 50%. The United States has been majorly affected by the implementation of the drug policy which is applied disproportionately among the demographic structures such as the minority and majority (Bratter 239). In addition, there is a strong relationship between the demographic shift and the drug policy effectiveness in the United States as punishment reflects the demographic shifts where the majority is favored and less punished compared to the minority groups in terms of drug law formulation and enforcement. The drug policy is then used by the federal government to control and regulate the drugs that are considered dangerous. The policy is put in place to control and regulate both demand and supply that may adversely affect the economy. For example, the office of the United States Drug control policy estimated that the drug abuse costs the country a total of $180.9billion as result of the loss in productivity in the economy due to disability, death, and withdrawal from legitimate workplace resulting from the use of drugs and addiction.
In addition, drug use increases health care spending as the government spends a lot of money on addressing drug addiction and treatment. The drugs that are commonly abused in the United States are the Marijuana, Cocaine, heroin, alcohol and many other drugs. These drugs have a positive relationship with the demographic patterns as drug addiction could cause death and reduce the fertility rate.
The data shows that the United States is the country is the world with the highest number of prisoners and 80% of the inmates were arrested and prosecuted for drug abuse-related offenses. For example, more than 2million Americans are arrested with drug-related offenses annually. Different states in the United States are autonomous in terms of drug policy regulations and the federal government has varied drug policies which aimed at discouraging the use and abuse of illicit drugs. For example, federal laws stipulate heavy penalty to drug abuse offenders such as 5-10 years imprisonment and other severe fines. In addition, the federal enacted various legislation that can ensure a free drug state so as to reduce the health and drug abuse expenses that are incurred by the federal government. For instance, the federal government has enacted various regulations such as Drug-Free Schools and Community Act of 1989 that directed that any form of financial assistance from the federal government can only be considered in a free drug environment and the illicit drug users were not legible for any financial or other support from the federal government.
However, the fight against the drug use by the federal policies has not to bear fruits due to legal autonomy within states. Again, the use of prison as the punishment method to drug-related offenders has proved ineffective due to the increasing number of prisoners in the United States. Some states such as California, Colorado, District of Colombia have legalized some drugs and this has frustrated the effort concerning the federal government on the war against drugs (Bratter 136). Research also shows that Americans prefer legalization of the drugs and adoption of the rehabilitation as opposed to imprisonment of the drug users. For example, as at January, 2015, more than 23 states and the District of Colombia had legalized illicit drugs such as marijuana for medical purposes while seven more states were considering adopting the policy of legalizing the illicit drugs and adopts rehabilitation and other alternative correctional methods other than incarceration as the method of punishment to drug offenders. This change of event is a typical example of the effect of the majority-minority shift in the war against drugs. The minority is the federal government that has come with punitive policies on drug abuse such as many years of imprisonment and other heavy penalties to drug abuse offenders. The individual states are the majority shift as they continue to act against the federal states by legalizing the illicit drugs, therefore, frustrating the fight against drugs.
The challenge of the drug policy in the United States is racial discrimination, especially among the minority groups. Racial discrimination among law enforcement officers has manifested itself in the war against drugs (Bratter 234). For example, the Africa Americans and the Latino are the most casualties. It has been observed that law enforcement officers are biased while making an arrest as they only focused on the low-income communities, people living in the urban centers and the communities of color. The implementation of the drug policy has been ineffective due to the disparities in its applications. For instance, the small sale sellers face severe penalties while those selling in large scale are left and this discrimination is one of the weaknesses of the fight against drugs in the United States. Research has shown that the minority which is the African Americans, Hispania’s and the Latino are more likely to be stopped, arrested and harshly sentenced for the drug violation laws. This demonstrates that the majority which is the whites faces fewer or fewer penalties in drug-related offenses and this reduces the effectiveness of the drug regulations and policy in the United States. For instance, more than 80% of the prisoners of drug-related offenses in the federal prisons and more than 60% of the prisoners in the state prisons are mainly Latino, Hispanic and Africa Americans. This shows that there is partial enforcement of drug policy and this makes the fight against drug abuse, especially among the minority to lose goodwill for the fight against drugs. Further, it was also established that prosecutors are likely to pursue a mandatory minimum sentence to Africa America or Latino than the white. For example, in 2011, 38% of the Latino received a mandatory minimum sentence; Africa Americans were 31% while whites were only 10%. This data shows that the majority received lesser punishment with regard to enforcement of the drug policy.
Impact of drug policy enforcement in the United States
It has fueled widespread detention and deportation for the minorities. For instance, the minorities such as the non-citizens and undocumented immigrants have been detained and deported without due process and this happens across the United States. In the year 2007, for example, 250,000 people were deported for drug law violations. President Trump proposed the building of a wall between Mexico and the United States to reduce the level for drug trafficking and other heavy penalties have been put in place (Bratter 342). The research that was conducted by the Human Right Watch found that deportation rate for drug law violation offenses increased by 43% in the last three years. Marijuana was the leading cause for deportation and these findings contradict the earlier research that showed that many states are legalizing the marijuana for medical purposes.
Moreover, there has been a lifelong collateral consequence for drug law offenders (Bratter 381). There is a strict policy that denies the offenders their basic rights such as voting rights, employment, business loan and other public assistance to the people facing criminal charges related to drugs. The drug policy in the United States is implied disproportionately depending on the demographic shift and the color of the skin of the culprits.
Conclusion
Drugs and drug abuse is a major problem in the United States. The drug policy which is very effective in regulating and controlling the drug use but there is racial discrimination within the law enforcement agencies. The majority shifts such as the states are legalizing the various drugs thereby frustrating the effort of the federal government on the war against drugs. In addition, the majority which is the white Americans face less punishment compared to other communities and this demonstrates that there is a strong relationship between the drug policy and the majority-minority demographic shift on the drug policy in the United States.
Recommendations
The report recommends that the government adopt the pre-plea diversion that can enable people with minor drug charges to participate the treatment programs and should not enter the guilty plea as this may reduce the offenses related to drug abuse by 23%.In addition, there should be other rehabilitation centers that drug addicts and other users can find refuge other than the police and the prison cells. Further, draconian drug laws and policy that takes away the fundamental rights such as voting, employment and financial aid from both state and the federal government should be repealed so that the policy to address the drug abuse and law violation without taking the basic right of the offenders. Finally, the government should revise the policy that discriminates along the racial lines and other demographic factors so that the drug policy to reduce the effects of drugs on the economy.
Works Cited
Bratter, Jenifer L. "The Demography of Race and Ethnicity in the United States." (2015). Print.
Hess, Kären M, Christine M. H. Orthmann, and Shaun E. LaDue. Management and Supervision in Law Enforcement. , 2016. Print.
