A large reason for the existence of these outliers is the prosecution of the War on Drugs through heavy policing of black communities. Of course, the data isn’t perfect, with some significant outliers such as Illinois, which provides adequate mental health care but still ranks highly for drug related arrests. Massachusetts and Rhode Island also follow the same trend, ranking as the top mental health care providers and having the fewest drug related arrests.
In fact, Vermont in particular ranks #1 in mental health care access and #50 in drug related arrests. In the rankings of drug related arrests, displayed in Figure 2, those same states are ranked towards the bottom. States like Vermont, Minnesota, and Massachusetts rate towards the top of that list. The factors going into these rankings include “adults with disability who could not see a doctor due to costs,” “youth with MDE (major depressive episode) who did not receive mental health services,” among others. In Figure 1 the rankings of states’ access to mental health care are represented, with the dark blue being the lowest ranked. This correlation does stand, albeit loosely. If the theory stands, the states with good scores for mental health care access should conjointly have lower rates of arrests for illicit drug abuse, even when adjusted for third factors like poverty rates, education, etc. Primary analysis for the effects of this change can be conducted, since certain states in the United States allot more funding to mental health care than others. Some argue providing this kind of care across the board is too lofty of an idea to be effectively put into practice, or that the costs would outweigh the benefits. The depressant helps mitigate the anxiety symptoms the person is experiencing, and thus the person can develop a dependency on the drug.īased on that hypothesis, providing personalized mental health care should theoretically be able to prevent dependency on illicit substances.
For instance, someone with undiagnosed PTSD (an anxiety disorder) may become dependent on marijuana (a depressant). The self-medication theory asserts that most drug abusers are subconsciously attempting to quell symptoms of an undiagnosed mental disorder.
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However, scientists have recently hypothesized that may not be the full story, instead proposing the self-medication theory. For years, drug abuse has been viewed as a criminal act. Solutions of that sort include access to mental health care, decriminalization of drugs, and solutions based in community or socialization.Ĭurrently, in most states, any possession of a controlled substance is punishable by a minimum $1,000 fine and up to 1 year in prison. Research and analysis of existing data indicate that drug policies that do not treat drugs as criminal behavior have produced more promising results. Though the methods of attack are vastly different, all states can agree that something must be done about the drug epidemic in the country.ĭifferences in opinion on drug policy can usually be reduced to one fundamental disagreement: whether drug abuse is primarily a crime requiring punishment or an addiction requiring care and rehabilitation. States like Colorado came to the forefront of news coverage with their recent legalization of marijuana, while other states like Alabama ensure that will never become their reality.
Ever since former president Richard Nixon coined the term “ War on Drugs ,” drug policy has been a hot topic for political debate.
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