The Changing Face of the War on Drugs in the U.S. 

Drug abuse has been defined as a significant social problem. This  discussion provides an opportunity to examine this problem as well as  the ways in which our reliance on punishment as a solution to drug abuse  has changed over the years, given the different populations now  impacted by the problem.
 

For this discussion, review the following resources:

• Race, poverty and punishment: The impact of criminal sanctions on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequality (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Opiate Addiction: Sociologists Construct Distinct Profiles For Heroin And Prescription Painkiller Users (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• War on Drugs Failure Gives Way To Treatment in States, Cities (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Race, poverty and punishment: The impact of criminal sanctions on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequality
• When Addiction has a White Face (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
• Recommended: Chasing Heroin (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (for transcript click here (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.)

After reviewing the required resources for this discussion, please address each of the following:

1. How has the issue of drug addiction and the ‘war on drugs’ changed  over the past 20 years?  In particular, how have the populations  impacted by drugs changed?
2. Is drug addiction treated as a crime or as a medical issue in our  society?  In your informed opinion, which should it be?  Defend your  answer using the resources provided.
3. In your informed opinion, what do you think is the best course of  action to address the drug addiction epidemic in the U.S.?  Should it  differ by which drug is being abused?  Should it differ by the  population using the drugs?
4. Drug addiction is increasingly impacting whites, women, and  middle/upper class people.  How have these changes impacted the social  construction of drug addiction in our society?  In other words, how have  these changes impacted the ways in which drug abuse is or is not  criminalized and how it is treated by the criminal justice system?

Support  your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other  scholarly resources, and properly cite any references.