The Two National Threats Drugs And Gangs - 1838 Words

Nathaniel Louis Rogers Assistant Professor Michelle Holcomb Analysis of Police Operations- CJ 3350 November 26,2014 The Two National Threats: Drugs and Gangs Nathaniel L. Rogers Assistant Professor Michelle Holcomb CJ 3350 Analysis of Police Operations 26 November 2014 The Two National Threats: Drugs and Gangs While conducting research on the different drugs and gangs in our country, and other countries around the world, I found out a lot of interesting facts. I found several articles and books that discussed the history of gangs and the different drugs that are killing various communities in this country and other countries, such as South America. The authors of these articles have done a tremendous amount of†¦show more content†¦Even in our local and federal prisons. I will end my paper with a fourth section that discusses the first organized youth gang and why youth join gangs. My paper will then be concluded with a fifth section that summarizes the paper and discusses different ways to keep drugs off the street. Illicit Use of Various Drugs There are a tremendous amount of drugs around the country, that are being abused and illegal used. Some of the major drugs that have been abused for decades, and still are being abused today, are heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana. Most of these drugs are the cause of many deaths among the various communities. Whether it was an overdose or violence to get the drug. According to Sanders, marijuana is the most preferred drug to almost all of current drug users (981). According to Swanson et al., heroin was first developed in England in 1874, but was not really abused because it was not found to be a powerful drug until the 1890s (550). Heroin is an odorless, crystal-like, white powder and is retrieved the opium poppy plant (Swanson et al. 550). Heroin can also, sometimes, be the gateway drug from the drug marijuana. A gateway drug is any addictive drug that may lead to the use of a more addictive drug. Methamphetamine is, most of time, refereed to as crystal meth and is usually injected or smoked using a glass pipe (Swanson et al.556). Methamphetamine is the