Criminal Justice
Illegal drug use, illegal prostitution, and money laundering
Abstract
This paper discusses the risks posed by illegal drug use, illegal prostitution, and money laundering. The three crimes pose a global threat and the response from the international community will bring a complete change as it will plan and implement various measures to address the crime in all areas. The research tends to focus on each of the three areas, considering the factors that influence each crime, the vulnerable group, the measures to combat the crime and the responsible team. The research uses original views from experts who have done research and have come up with a piece of highly credible information, clarity, evidence from focused research and a wealth of Knowledge. The information provided will help the reader learn more about the drug use and the vulnerable groups, illegal prostitute and the vulnerable as well the money laundering and its effects on the global economy. The paper has an introduction, body parts, and a conclusion. The conclusion will sum up the research and show how the three crimes are interconnected.
Introduction
Illegal drug use, illegal prostitution, and money laundering are global issues which cause detrimental effects. Illegal drug use has social consequences to the family and community in terms of health, education, and a rise of criminal activities. Prostitution affects communities in various ways including the objectification of women which leads to increase of abuses and substance abuse. Money laundering has a detrimental effect on the global economy by causing economic distortions, damages the legitimate financial institutions, and reduces government revenue and increase criminal operations. The three crimes require a strategic approach from the international community since the effects of the crime cause threats to the entire globe. Since the international community focus on promoting peace and protection, there should be international efforts toward addressing the matters of illegal drug use including demand and supply, it should also regulate illegal prostitution and address the issue of money laundering. Citizens in the entire globe need freedom and justice and the international community has a higher calling in serving its citizens by combing the illicit activity.
Illegal drug use
According to Kilmer et al (2012), the use of the illicit drug in America is on the rise as the drug abuse statistics report that about 40 million Americans abuse drugs. The commonly abused drugs include cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana. The use of marijuana has increased at a high rate as it is abused on daily basis unlike other substances like alcohol. Even though the statistics have shown a decline in homicides, there is a high rate of deaths that occur to the drug users. There are many abused new substances and the high prevalence is due to ‘legal highs' or new substances which are not covered by existing prohibitions (Kilmer et al, 2012). The Obama administration reports that the federal government is spending a lot on prevention, treatment and law enforcement. States are also spending on treatment, school-based prevention, campaigns, and other preventive measures.
Given that the state and local government is spending a large amount of money in drug control, the federal government is showing effort toward drug control by creating drug policy. It has passed a policy on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for the purpose of providing patients with insurance coverage, prevention, intervention, primary care, and community-based treatment (Kilmer et al, 2012). Another change from the federal level is targeting those who supply medical marijuana. The combination of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act will help millions of individuals' access addiction services and substance abuse treatment. Secondly. Marijuana use is illegal under the federal level and for this reason, the federal responses put effort to target the supplies to reduce supply reduction.
Young people and drug use
Young people abuse drugs more than adults due to factors such as the urge to seek new experiences, influence from peer pressure, popular media, and lack of confidence, misinformation and more. The commonly abused substances include tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol among other substances that bring devastating effects. Mckeganey, Mcintosh & Macdonald (2003) conducted research to determine the factors that influence young people in using the illicit drug and found that family is a strong factor. Family background plays a big role in shaping adolescent behavior either healthy behavior or unhealthy behaviors such as drug use. Several studies have researched the factors that influence the use of illicit drug ranging from genetic transmission and nurturing environment. Considering different factors, recent researches have confirmed that poor family functioning such as neglect, divorce, and abuse increases the risk of adolescents drug use (Mckeganey, Mcintosh & Macdonald, 2003). After conducting quantitative and qualitative research, the authors found that young people become aware of the use of illicit drug through their family members. In a conducted study, young people who used illicit drug reported that their parents and relatives used to take drugs. Even though it is important to understand the different types of drug that young people commonly abuse, it is also important to know the reason as to why young people engage in these criminal acts. The research has shown that family factors or rather family drug use are a factor that influences young people in engaging in drug use (Mckeganey, Mcintosh & Macdonald, 2003). The authors assert that given that relatives' drug use is a contributing factor, it is important to address this issue by developing peer support groups, and teachers should also become involved in addressing the issue of the family drug by discussing with pupils.
On the issue of drug use, Borges et al (2018) have done research to find out the use of the drug in the US-Mexico border. The authors have given a piece of great information that the rate of drug use in US-Mexico border is high. The reason being, Mexico cities closer to the U.S are more affluent and laws of drug use in these cities are liberal thus attracting foreign customers (Borges et al, 2018). Another reason as to why drug use in US-Mexico border is high is due to the reason that some cities such as Tijuana have a high population of return immigrants and Mexican nations, who makes the prevalence of drug use become high. On the U.S side, US cities which are closer to the border are poor and the rate of crime and violence including drug trafficking and drug use is high (Borges et al, 2018). In trying to understand the issue of illicit drug use, Borges et al (2018) report that the physical environment is a factor that influences individuals toward engaging in the use of the illicit drug. In addition to the family factors that influence young people to engage in the use of the drug, another factor that has been reported is the physical environment which has to do with population structure (demographic composition), population density, housing quality, social environment, and formal and informal social services. In addition to these physical environments, the research done by Borges et al (2018) confirms that the life in the border areas is different from the interior regions. In other words, the US-Mexico border has higher contributors to drug use. For example, U.S cities which are near the border experience a higher rate of unemployment and poverty. On the Mexico side, cities near the border also experience a high rate of poverty and stresses due to border security from the U.S and the costly drug war.The research has shown that even though Mexican cities and U.S cities are separate cities, they share cultural ties since people from the same family live in both cities (Borges et al, 2018). The purpose of conducting research on drug use in these two cities is to help implement the best programs for prevention. To address this issue, public health actions will be of great help as it will not only put emphases on drug use and its consequences but it will also offer preventive measures and treatment.
Illegal Prostitution
Overview
Prostitution is the act of performing sexual acts for material gains such as money, expensive clothing, real estate and more. Settegast (2018) introduces the issue of illegal prostitution by asserting that there is a difference between prostitution and casual sex in that the former is harmful where is the latter does not cause any harm but rather it is a form of sexual enjoyment. Individuals who engage in sexual activities are at a higher risk and to protect them from the risk, people are being prohibited from buying and selling sex. Prostitution is a debatable issue where liberals argue that it should be legalized and de-stigmatized whereas some argue that prostitution is intrinsically harmful. Settegast (2018) sex is a joint action which achieves a standard of excellence but prostitution undermines the joint action and for this reason, it brings harm. The author argues that prostitution does not create intimacy and enjoyment but the participants engage in sexual activities for money. Even though people engage in various forms to search for money, prostitution is harmful as it forces an individual to fail to adhere to the virtues. In other words, individuals who engage in prostitution lack temperance and he or she cannot do according to the strengths of one's desire nor do the right action (Settegast, 2018). The author tends to show that illegal prostitution violates the virtues of temperance and thus, it is detrimental and indicates a lack of virtue. The author tends to prove the immorality or rather the illegality of prostitution by asserting that individuals who engage in prostitution lack healthy vocational pride, lack self-respect and they are influenced by the desire for money.
On the issue of illegal prostitution, Hounmenou (2017) adds that illegal prostitution has given rise to a public health problem. The prostitution prevalence is very high and research and studies have confirmed that child prostitution is leading in causing public health problem especially in Sub-Sahara Africa. Children are at risk of being infected by HIV-AIDS and STI. Despite the high prevalence and associated consequences, Sub-Saharan African countries have not developed policies and programs to address the issue (Hounmenou, 2017). It is important to note that child prostitution is as a result of sex trafficking which menus that children engage in prostitution due to coercion whereas others engage to meet their basic needs such as food and clothing. Despite the vulnerability to sexually transmitted infection, children are under-represented in research of violence. There are few reliable data regarding the child prostitution and violence but most studies concentrate on women violence. This means that children are considered as sex workers but the UN Convection that deals with children's right affirm that children below 18 are the victim of sexual exploitation. Recent studies have affirmed that girls and women are more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections and the high prevalence rate is due to the environment they live in (Hounmenou, 2017). For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of STIs and HIV/AIDs is high due to factors such as immaturity and limited access to protective measures such as condoms. Having understood that there is a high prevalence rate of child prostitution in Sub-Saharan Africa and that child prostitution is not perceived as a social issue, social ownership must be in the front line to offer specialized needs to the prostituted children (Hounmenou, 2017). In addition, the Sub-Saharan Africa regions should consider child prostitution as a public health issue and provide appropriate policy response, enforce policies and encourage law enforcement to provide appropriate protection.
Money Laundering
Money laundering is the act of converting dirty money- derived from illegal means such as prostitution and drug trafficking to- clean money. Criminals involved in the process of money laundering tend to hide the ownership of their criminal activities so that they can retain control and cover their wealth (Choo et al, 2014). Money laundering is an evil act that puts financial institutions into risks. The research on money laundering has found that the process involves three elements that are; placement-movement of money derived from illegal activities into a banking system, the second process is layering- at this stage, the criminal’s convert’s money into monetary instruments such as banker's draft and money orders. Money which is in a form of the asset is resold to make it difficult to trace its source. The third process is integration- this means that cash in the financial institution is converted into monetary instruments and put into the legitimate business (Choo et al, 2014). The research by Choo et al (2014) finds that the September 11, 2001 attacks contributed to the act of money laundering since organized crime groups required a fund to finance their terrorism efforts. Research has also shown that it is not possible to estimate the amount of money laundered but with advances in technology, financial institutions will be able to come up with direct estimates. The United State Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an international body that is encouraging countries to pass Anti-money Laundering laws (AML) (Choo et al, 2014). However, the FATF argues that the government, law enforcement, supervisors and other bodies should play role in enforcing the AML.
Another important point derived from the research is that money laundering is contributed by organized crime and for this reason, Anti-money Laundering should not only focus on reducing money laundering but should also focus on reducing the criminal activities such as corruption and terrorism (Choo et al, 2014). Note that organized crime groups need a higher amount of money to support their activities. In other words, they finance their operations fund from illegitimate sources such as extortion, smuggling, narcotics trafficking and more. Thus, efforts should also be directed toward combating terrorists through cooperative efforts and technical assistance programs. The international community or rather the world's nations should support in order to combat money laundering. Money laundering and terrorists are a threat to the economy in that they affect the economic integrity and stability, undermine the financial institution, affect the macroeconomic performance, discourage foreign investigation and affects the stability of capital flow (Choo et al, 2014). Anti-money Laundering regulations are designed to stop the illegal actions of generating money. However, the process can be costly since financial criminals are implementing new ways of money laundering which means that even with the use of AML, offenders will still take advantage and proceed with the criminal acts. However, the benefits of the AML outweighs the risks (Choo et al, 2014). To assess the cost-effectiveness of AML, the best way is to use the ‘opportunity cost theory' and a ‘break-even point' and by so doing, the implications will be far-reaching.
Conclusion
Illegal drug use, illegal prostitution, and money laundering are a threat to the global economy and to the well-being. From the research, it is worth saying that the three crimes are connected in that illegal drugs bring devastating effects such as prostitution. In other words, drug use and prostitution are interconnected as most street prostitute's abuse drugs such as cocaine heroin and some engage in prostitution after developing drug habits. Moreover, individuals who engage in drug use suffer from financial struggles and for them to meet their basic needs, they engage in the sex trade to gain money. Drug use and prostitution are also interconnected with money laundering in that illegal funds are derived from illegal sources such as prostitution and drug trafficking where the fund is converted into clean money. In a nutshell, the three crimes are interconnected and thus, the international community should join hands in combating the criminal activities such money laundering, illegal prostitution, and drug trafficking and drug use.
References
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