Entrapment occurs when a government agent or someone in authority such as law enforcement and undercover police improperly coerces, influences, manipulates or induces an individual to commit a crime which they would have otherwise committed had the opportunity to do not been availed to them (Colvin, 2002, p. 226). Hence, from this definition, the “buy and bust” or “sell and bust” undercover operations may be considered as entrapment since they entail the inducement of a person to commit an offense, such as dealing in or purchasing of illegal drugs.
Furthermore, as Hay (2005) observes, sting or undercover operations by law enforcement, just like entrapment, involve the police luring people to commit a crime. The type of offenders most prone to these strategies are the young offenders or youth because they are more predisposed to use and deal in drugs than any other group.
Generally speaking, I feel drugs such as marijuana should be legalized, but not others like cocaine, nicotine, and heroin. This is because it is a waste of law enforcement resources to pursue crimes involving the use of beneficial drugs like cannabis. However, considering the health impacts of heroin, nicotine, and cocaine, they should never be legalized.
The legalization of such drugs would adversely affect the health of children and families besides encouraging indecent behaviors in the society. This because legalization of hard drugs would create and encourage addiction problems and incentivize criminal, indecent, and delinquent behaviors due to unrestricted access to dangerous drugs and abuse of drugs (Abadinsky, 2013).
In the US, legalization of drugs would have various effects including the reduction of the costs of enforcing drug laws, reduction in crime and violence, and minimization of incarceration for non-violent drug offenses hence decongesting the prison system. This is because with the legalization of drugs such as marijuana, the drug cartels involved in the sale of illegal drugs will be wiped out and states will be able to earn revenue from the regulation of legal drug sales. The legal regulation of drugs would also improve consumer safety by preventing overdose and addiction or overdependence on drugs (Fish, 2006).
However, on the US borders, drug decriminalization would have the effect of increasing the number of drugs being illegally brought into and taken out of the country to and from countries where drugs are illegal. This is because, with drug legalization, the US borders will become porous and encourage the free flow of drugs which may end up fueling crime and violence. To the law enforcement strategies, drug legalization would pose challenges such as dealing with more crime cases and violent people. The reason for this is that legalization would make people more violent and predisposed to commit a crime and hence make it difficult for the police to maintain law and order.
References
Abadinsky, H. (2013). Drug use and abuse: A comprehensive introduction. Mason, OH: Wadsworth Cengage Learning
Colvin, E. (2002). Controlled operations, controlled activities, and entrapment. Bond Law Review, 14(2), 226-249
Fish, J.M. (2006). Drugs and Society: U.S. public policy. Lanham & Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Hay, B. (2005). Sting operations, undercover agents, and entrapment. Missouri Law Review, 70 (2), 387-431
