Deck 15: Law Enforcement, Drug Courts, and Drug Treatment

Question 1

The Administration of President Barak Obama has:

A) intensified the "War on Drugs"
B) maintained the "War on Drugs" more or less unchanged the way his predecessor had
C) moderated or tempered the "War on Drugs" somewhat
D) been inconsistent about the "War on Drugs"-prosecuted in ruthlessly in some years and abandoned it,tolerating illicit drug use,during other years
E) prosecuted the "War on Drugs" in a clandestine,secret,unknowable fashion

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Methadone is:

A) a stimulant that is used to treat methamphetamine abusers
B) a barbiturate that is used to treat alcoholism
C) safe,non-addicting,and without euphoric effect at any dosage
D) a narcotic that is used to treat narcotic addiction
E) none of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The number of inmates incarcerated in jail and prison in the United States between 1980 and 2010:

A) has increased
B) has decreased
C) has remained stable
D) has fluctuated wildly and erratically from year to year
E) remains unknown and unknowable

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Drug courts:

A) sentence drug offenders to the maximum possible mandatory prison terms.
B) are criminal courts that are instituted to penalize drug dealers.
C) divert drug offenders into treatment programs.
D) were set up to serve an unknown function.
E) none of the above.

Question 5

In Drug War Heresies,drug experts Robert MacCoun and Peter Reuter argue that it is "plausible" that decreasing drug penalties will:

A) substantially increase illicit drug use
B) substantially decrease illicit drug use
C) not substantially increase use
D) have an unknown impact on drug use
E) none of the above

Question 6

Evaluations of drug treatment programs have demonstrated a failure rate of:

A) zero percent-all programs are 100 percent effective
B) roughly 10-20 percent
C) roughly 50 percent
D) roughly 70-90 percent
E) 100 percent-no program successfully treats any of its patients

Question 7

In the past several decades:

A) both the crime rate and the number of persons incarcerated in prison have increased.
B) the crime rate has increased,but the number of persons incarcerated in prison has decreased.
C) the crime rate has decreased,but the number of persons incarcerated in prison has increased.
D) both the crime rate and the number of persons incarcerated in prison have decreased.
E) none of the above.

Question 8

Which U.S.president renewed President Richard Nixon's "War on Drugs"?

A) Gerald Ford
B) Jimmy Carter
C) Ronald Reagan
D) Bill Clinton
E) George Bush

Question 9

Roughly half of all inmates in federal prisons were convicted and incarcerated for which of the following offenses?

A) drug offenses
B) weapons,explosives,arson
C) immigration offenses
D) property offenses
E) violent offenses

Question 10

The current federal law that penalizes drug possession and sale is referred to as the:

A) Harrison Act
B) Marihuana Tax Act
C) Drug Control Act (or Controlled Substances Act)
D) Punitive Drug Strike Law
E) The Richard Milhous Nixon Anti-Drug Law

Question 11

In the short run,that is,after 2000,the "race to incarcerate" offenders of all crimes,and drug offenders specifically:

A) has accelerated
B) has slowed down
C) remains the same
D) fluctuates wildly and erratically from year to year
E) remains unknown,and unknowable

Question 12

According to the national household survey,between the late 1970s and the more recent survey (2011),the use of cocaine by the American population:

A) has increased
B) has decreased
C) has remained stable
D) has fluctuated wildly and erratically from year to year
E) remains unknown and unknowable

Question 13

Under federal law,marijuana:

A) may be used,by prescription,for medicinal purposes
B) is a Schedule I drug and may not be used for any purposes whatsoever (except extremely rarely granted experimental purposes)
C) is decriminalized
D) is legalized
E) none of the above

Question 14

Roughly nine out of ten inmates in state prisons are:

A) white
B) black,or African-American
C) men
D) women
E) none of the above

Question 15

Alcohol is:

A) not mentioned anywhere in the Controlled Substances Act
B) classified as a Schedule I drug
C) classified as a Schedule II drug
D) classified as a Schedule III drug
E) none of the above

Question 16

MacCoun and Reuter also argue that outright legalization "might":

A) substantially increase illicit drug use
B) substantially decrease illicit drug use
C) not substantially increase drug use
D) have an unknown impact on drug use
E) none of the above

Question 17

MacCoun and Reuter calculate that for which of the following substances is the "elasticity index" the greatest-that is,there is the greatest decrease in purchases,given a one percent increase in price?

A) heroin
B) cigarettes
C) marijuana
D) MacCoun and Reuter argue that calculating an elasticity index is impossible because such an outcome as drug purchases,given price,cannot be known.
E) none of the above

Question 18

Approximately what percentage of the federal prison population is made up of drug offenders?

A) none-drug possession and sale are not federal offenses
B) a minority,though a substantial minority-about 20-25 percent
C) about half (roughly 50-55%)
D) a substantial majority-about 75 percent
E) all of them (100%)

Question 19

The black-white disparity rate of incarceration is:

A) greater for men than for women
B) greater for women than for men
C) the same for men and women
D) unknown-and unknowable
E) none of the above

Question 20

Over-the-Counter (OTC)drugs are:

A) not mentioned anywhere in the Controlled Substances Act
B) all classified as Schedule I drugs
C) all classified as Schedule II drugs
D) all classified as Schedule II-V drugs
E) none of the above

Question 21

Predict what you believe the U.S.drug policy will look like a century from now.

Question 22

Has the recent abuse of the prescription narcotics added to the drug abuse problem or simply switched the abuse of one narcotic for another? Be detailed and specific in your answer.

Question 23

The available evidence suggests that:

A) drug treatment programs are a failure-they cost the taxpayer too much money and they don't work
B) the longer a client remains in a treatment program the greater the likelihood of improvement
C) all clients who go through a program show measurable improvements
D) methadone maintenance clients evidence a huge improvement in rates of employment and alcohol consumption
E) cocaine abusers demonstrate no declines in levels of alcohol consumption

Question 24

Do you see increasing the price of cigarettes and alcohol to almost prohibitive levels as the solution to the legal drug problem? What about a return to alcohol prohibition-with the addition of prohibiting the sale and distribution of cigarettes? Is this a wise policy?

Question 25

Decades ago,the typical or most common narcotic addict was an urban minority male.How has the picture changed in the past ten years or so?

Question 26

If drug courts are as effective as their supporters claim,why haven't they substantially reduced drug abuse to a minor social problem?

Question 27

Regardless of the evidence supporting one or the other side of this argument,what do you think will be the actual drug control policy during the coming decade or two?

Question 28

Which is the best drug treatment policy-the same program for all clients ("one size fits all")or a different program for different clients? Or is the truth somewhere in between?

Question 29

Should methadone be administered to all narcotic addicts? Why or why not?

Question 30

Some observers argue that the passage and enforcement of the American drug laws have "worked" to control drug abuse in the United States,while others have argued that they have been a clear-cut failure.Cite evidence on both sides of the argument.Which side seems to you to be a stronger argument? What does that imply for current and future drug policy?

Question 31

Which of the various substance treatment programs currently in practice is the most effective one overall? If there is no single best overall problem,which ones work for which sectors of the abusing population?