On January 30th of the year 2018 the Shasta County Board of Supervisors conducted a meeting to cover a broad range of topics concerning the county and its citizens. The meeting began with the discussion of agritourism in the county. Richard Simons, the Resource Management Director, gave a presentation that highlighted his goals and suggestions to improve viability and the functionality of agritourism in the county. The board members were very engaged with his presentation and asked many thoughtful and provoking questions. They were especially concerned with how the citizens and land owners involved in agritourism would be affected by these new propositions. After the supervisors were satisfied and their questions were answered they unanimously supported the decision and the next topic was addressed. …show more content…
The proceeding topic discussed was the concerning abundance of opioid usage in Shasta County.
A speaker representing the California Department of Health Care Services requested assistance in providing substance abuse prevention and treatment services. They explained how grave the present situation was, and how they were seeing improvements in the control of substances. The county is reducing the number of opioid related deaths as well as reducing the number of total prescriptions. Police officers were also said to be receiving training on how to handle the invasive and dangerous problems associated with substance users. Unanimous support was again received and the next request was discussed. An officer of the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office presented a request to house Shasta County inmates in the Del Norte County Jail Facilities. The new housing plan promised to relieve some of the stress in the Shasta County Jail as well as save money and extend the jail’s budget. Del Norte County agreed to house the inmates with a fee, which was significantly less than what the Shasta County jail was spending to keep their
inmates. To conclude the meeting, each of the supervisors spoke about what local projects or activities they had recently participated in. All of the members appeared to be heavily involved in the county affairs. One the board members yield information that Modoc County was supposedly using public tax dollars to send their homeless population to the neighboring Lassen and Shasta Counties, as well as Oregon. Shocked, the other board members agreed to investigate this matter further in the future. After watching the Board of Supervisors meeting. I was exceptionally impressed with the local government we have created. Each one of the supervisors seemed genuinely interested and concerned with the citizens’ well beings in their county. Far too often we see individuals involved in politics solely to for their own personal gain, and I’m relieved to say that is not the case here. These collaborations of citizens and officials are critical for a prosperous society. As I am realizing this, my respect towards our local government has increased. I did not realize how much effort it required to maintain the basic functions of our county. I was surprised by how many events went by unnoticed by myself. This assignment has made me much more aware of our government processes and of which I plan on being more involved.
As you might already be aware there is a ballot initiative on this upcoming November’s election about drugs, and drug treatment. This measure is called Proposition 36. If this measure were to pass, state law would be changed, so that certain non-violent adult offenders who use or possess illegal drugs would receive drug treatment and supervision in the community, not prison. Right now California is ranked number one in the nation for its rate of imprisonment for drug offenders. If Proposition 36 passes, California could become number one for its treatment for drug offenders. The measure also provides state funds to counties to operate the drug treatment programs. Additionally, studies have shown that drug treatment is a far more effective than prison in reducing future criminal activity. Robert Roseman, a 51-year-old heroin addict from Sacramento says, “I was always able to get drugs in prison…all you’re going to learn in prison is to do crime better.”
California has one of the most dysfunctional and problematic prison system in US. Over the last 30 years, California prison increased eightfolds (201). California Department of Correctional and Rehabilitation (CDCR) does little to reform prisoners and serve as human warehouse rather than a correction institution. California's prison system fails the people it imprisons and society it tries to protect. In many cases, California's prison system exacerbates the pre-existing problems and aids in the formation of new problems for prisoners. This paper discuses the criminogenic effects of overcrowding, and reduction/elimination of programs and how it negatively affects California and the ballooning prison population and possible remedies.
"The Cornerstone of California’s Solution to Reduce Overcrowding, Costs, and Recidivism."California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Retrieved
According to President Barak Obama there are over 20 million Americans who struggle with substance abuse. (OBAMA, B. 2014). Although addiction is rampant in the United States there are intervention programs available for those who are seeking out recovery. Researchers explain that addiction is a
For county jails, the problem of cost and recidivism is exacerbated by budgetary constraints and various state mandates. Due to the inability of incarceration to satisfy long-term criminal justice objectives and the very high expenditures associated with the sanction, policy makers at various levels of government have sought to identify appropriate alternatives (Luna-Firebaugh, 2003, p.51-66). I. Alternatives to incarceration give courts more options. For example, it’s ridiculous that the majority of the growth in our prison populations in this country is due to people being slamming in jail just because they were caught using drugs. So much of the crime on the streets of our country is drug-related.
There are many contributing factors and political issues that address substance abuse. Throughout the years, many researchers have designed many interventions and social policies designed to treat people who have used, abused, and became addicted to substances. Today, there are many new studies that address substance abuse at the individual, group, family, and community or policy levels. Today, there are many services that are effective for decreasing recidivism in youth who have completed a substance abuse program. A substance abuse treatment program or center is the best way to treat individuals who have abused substances.
Addiction shows a dark path for many. It affects everyone around the addict and often leads to arrest. This presents reasoning as to why addicts need to receive treatment opposed to simply locking them away. Treatment of addiction greatly benefits addicts and proves to aid the individual more than incarceration. The proven benefits show why enacting a solution for the aid of drug offenders needs to occur. Nonviolent drug offenders need to be granted extensive addiction treatment and counseling in the place of incarceration for their crimes.
The United States have occasionally tried to overcome this problem with policies such as “War on Drugs” and the government has spent billions of dollars to fight drug abuse, but the enforcement law has been costly and counterproductive. The United States government needs to shift its spending from drug law enforcement to treatment, education, and prevention as optional policies that can do well (Paley, 2014).
While researching for an article to use that correlated with the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior, I discovered an interesting article on substance abuse treatment and providers.
Health promotion strategies have been put in place to reduce substance abuse across the nation. They include setting up of peer support services, provision of medication assisted treatment, use of science
America’s modern “war on drugs” was officially kicked off in 1971 during a press conference with president Nixon. Among other things, Nixon declared drugs to be America’s number one enemy and the phrase the “war on drugs” was born. The size and presence of federal drug control agencies dramatically increased during Nixon’s presidency. It would also prove to be the only time in our country’s history of fighting drug use that the bulk of the federal funding for this initiative was spent on demand reduction and treatment-based approaches rather than on punitive and supply control methods (Thirty). Both prior to and since this period, America’s drug policies have always taken a decidedly different course. In recent years such policies have come
In addition, almost 95 percent of people with substance use problems are considered unaware of their problem. I also know that substance abuse is a very important topic, because it has a great impact on every person. This is because if a person has a bad habit, it can affect the whole community. An illustration of this is how the sidestream of a smoker affects the children and people around them. Also, the effects of substance abuse are cumulative, significantly contributing to costly social, physical, mental, and public health problems. Besides the effect of smoke’s sidestream, other problems are domestic violence, thild abuse, and teenage
Substance abuse is a challenging battle that cannot be won over night it takes a lot of hard work and dedication from every one. Local government agencies, national, and global evolvement needs to be present to overcome substance abuse. It is important to try and overcome substance abuse due to the negative impact that it is having on society, financially and
Emphasizing the need to view drug misuse as a health issue and not just a moral or criminal issue.
Drug abuse has been a hot topic for our society due to how stimulants interfere with health, prosperity, and the lives of others in all nations. All drugs have the potential to be misapplied, whether obtained by prescription, over the counter, or illegally. Drug abuse is a despicable disease that affects many helpless people. Majority of those who are beset with this disease go untreated due to health insurance companies who neglect and discriminate this issue. As an outcome of missed opportunities of treatments, abusers become homeless, very ill, or even worst, death.