Running Head: ILLEGAL DRUG USE, PROSTITUTION AND MONEY LAUNDERING
Analysis of Illegal Drug Use, Illegal Prostitution and Money Laundering
Introduction
Conversely, the existence of laws serves a control tool for maintaining order. Whether at state, federal or international scale, governments play a vital role in the enacting legislations that characterize the legitimate and illegitimate states of individual behavior. In this regard, actions that contradict the stipulated rules are considered to be illegal. Moreover, within the bounds of criminal justice, committing tokens that are legally wrong is perceived as a crime. Therefore, individuals are prohibited from engaging in illegal activities contrary to which the law takes its course through the prescribed legal consequences. On this view, the paper aims at providing an in-depth analysis of the scope of illegal drug use, illegal prostitution, money laundering and the associated legal and regulatory implications.
Illegal drug use
Arguably, the drug culture dates back to the 1960s where the booming of mass media and music contributed to the invasion of the culture in different societal aspects (Jiang, Lee, Lee, & Pickard, 2017). Globally, the increasing case of illegal and illicit drug abuse is alarming. From a public health point of view, illegal drug use has substantial effects not only to the individual but also the society at large. The pervasive use of illegal drugs cuts across different age groups and it does not have gender exclusivity. As described by National Institute on Drug Abuse, illegal drugs that are commonly used include cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, amphetamines and club drugs. For instance, heroin and cocaine have been reported as the most commonly misused illicit drugs.
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Particularly, the predominance and extensive use of heroine elicits the concerns as a key public health crisis (Martins et al., 2017) Available statistics indicate that the incidence rates in for heroin use in 2013 doubled the numbers in 2000 in addition to the increase in mortality rates associated with overdose in the United States (Jiang et al., 2017). The authors further dissuade heroine use as burdensome due to the tremendous costs inflicted at personal social and economic levels. At a personal level, the use of heroine and other illegal substances impacts greatly on the health of the individual users. The acute effects include the direc t harm resulting from drug toxicity. Besides, the clinical sequelae of long term exposure to the drug toxicity presents physiological consequences to the users such as liver disease, pneumonia and thrombosed veins for those administering the drugs intravenously (Jiang et al., 2017) . The latter group also risks contracting diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B and C due to the sharing of hypodermic needles and other injectables. In addition to the physical effects, chronic use of heroine and other illegal drugs results in psychonerobiological associated health problems such as anxiety, depression, irritability and addiction.
Moreover, illegal drug use has been linked to the increasing rates of criminal activities. The crimes associated with illegal drug use range from acquisitive forms of fraud, forgery and burglary to the violent ones including aggravated assault, robbery with violence and murder (Jiang et al., 2017) . On the large extent, violence has been documented as a primary concern in the trafficking and illegal drug trade. The drug market violence has been attributed to the psychological effects resulting from drug induced psychoses. However, the interchangeable relationship between crime and drug use accords violence in the drug markets a devised mechanism for maintaining and sustaining the lucrative illegal drug use and trade. Although the link between drugs and crime seems paradoxical, research related to pathophysiology of illegal drug use highlights the etiological mechanisms that justify this association. Notably the multifaceted drug-crime relationships bring further insights on the sociological aspects of illegal drug use and its implications on the implementation of legal frameworks such as incarceration. However, puzzling question concerns on whether the legal imposition on illegal drug use yields expected outcomes or it exacerbates the rate drug related crimes in the society.
Arguably, variations in the distribution of illegal drug use and the subsequent dependence and abuse disorders, explains the differences and inconsistency in the legal frameworks around the globe. The growing menace of illegal drug use has been considered as a war that governments fights with extensive resources. Research indicates that many nations that have shifted their focus towards criminalization of drug use in attempt to eradicate the supply of illicit drugs ( Strathdee, Beletsky & Kerr, 2015). Unfortunately, the robust in accessibility, use and trafficking of illegal drugs in clearly indicates the failure of the government to contain the problem despite its extensive efforts to impose law enforcement and interdiction of offenders. As an awakening call for policy makers, recommendations for the control of illegal drug use should not be limited to the legal approaches of medicalization, harm reduction, decriminalization and strict prohibitions. According to Wu, Zhu & Swartz (2016), the utilization of medication-assisted treatment aimed at managing drug related overdose in persons with major depressive episode (MDE), heroin use disorder among other drug associated health problems. Therefore, discussions on illegal drug use should take into account the contributing factors and the efforts to eradicate the misuse of illicit drugs ought to consider the inclusion of user-oriented interventions such as treatment and rehabilitation.
Illegal Prostitution
Generally, prostitution is a concept that evokes different arguments ranging from religious, ethical and legal to philosophical thoughts (Cheng, 2015) . Everyone has the right and freedom of expressing personal views on prostitution. Ultimately, the beliefs shape our understanding and perception and approach towards prostitution (Gerassi, 2015). Besides, the diverging opinions play a vital role in informing related public policies. Significantly, terming prostitution as illegal attributes the legislation decision as influenced by the assumption that the process has potential harm to those involved in it.
.On the global scale, discussion on the legitimacy of prostitution and its stance in the legal bounds imposes different approaches among them legalization, criminalization and decriminalization (Cheng, 2015). First, legalization of prostitutions mandates the concerned governments to protect and control prostitution operations. Jurisdictions having legalized prostitution include Australia and Victoria. On the other hand, decriminalization of prostitution relates to the lack of prostitution-specific provisions aimed at regulating the industry as perceived in New Zealand. Lastly, criminalization of prostitution takes into account two different approaches namely the abolitionist and the prohibitionist. Jurisdictions founded on the abolitionist concept consider the sale of sex as legal while the associated activities such as sex solicitation and brothel keeping are regarded as illegal. In prohibitionist jurisdictions, prostitution and the related activities are considered as unacceptable and thus illegal. Therefore an analysis of illegal prostitution includes the determinants for criminalizing the industry in a majority of jurisdictions in the United States.
From a philosophical point of view, debates on the legality of prostitution are rooted in the feminism discussion on the subject matter. Literature indicates that the so-called radical feminists take the stance that prostitution often involves male dominance and thus women are subject to exploitation (Cheng, 2015). In their view, legalization of prostitution means subjecting women to violence commonly reported in the prostitution industry. On the contrary, another contingent entails the liberal feminists whose argument regards prostitution as a respectable form of employment that should be consider a formal job opportunity besides disputing the involvement of sex trafficking in prostitution. Historically, the perspectives of the two groups formed the framework embracing prostitution related concerns through the formation of anti-prostitution campaigns and prostitute labor unions respectively.
Often, opposition to legalization of prostitution is on the basis of it being an act that that predisposes women to violence. Inherently, prostitution has been associated to crimes such as human trafficking and sex trafficking and therefore protection of potential victims greatly relies on the underlying criminalization. Gerassi (2015) provides insights into the consequences, risks and danger associated with sex exploitation for women and girls in the prostitution industry. According to the article, sexual exploitation entails any form of attempted or actual abuse on the basis of vulnerability, monetary gains and differential power. Also, sex trafficking in illegal prostitution entails the initiation, recruitment, containment, transportation as well as outsourcing a person with the sole urge for commercial sex act. It’s argued that the covert nature of prostitution has opened gaps for the mentioned offenses. For instance the 2011 criminal justice reports indicates that law enforcement investigate an estimate of 2065 sex trafficking cases in the United States ( Gerassi, 2015). Besides, government reports stated that many children are predisposed to sexual exploitation. Although efforts have been put in place to identify the prevalence rates for prostitution related offenses, lack of uniformity in definition of terms and data collection methodologies has contributed to the scarcity in related statistics.
Moreover, illegal prostitution results from predisposing factors and has detrimental effects on the victims. As part of illegal prostitution, sex trafficking and sex exploitation stems largely from dysfunctional family units ( Gerassi, 2015) . In this case, a history of life-threatening events such as partner violence contributes to the mental instability and other psychological related health problems that influence an individual’s view of exploitation Coupled with the foster care environments, disintegrated family units pose a great risk to sex exploitation. However, as a growing criminal industry, sex trafficking yields high economic costs related to profits gained and the immigration proceedings. Despite the industry having higher monetary gains, studies indicate that illegal prostitution serves an avenue for increased prevalence rates of violence against women especially those of color, and marginalized groups leading to physical and mental stress.
Consequently, a push for campaigns against prostitution through the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Acts guarantees restoration of sanity and protection of victims from violence. Jung, M. (2017) applauds the effective management and decrease in the transmission rates of sexual transmitted infections to the enforcement of sex trafficking rules. In this case, the act protected the victims from contracting the venereal diseases which were majorly contributed by the unavoidable and unprotected sexual assault. Besides, implementation of such provisions inflicts legal punishments to offenders.
Money Laundering
Money laundering is a process that deals with the illegal transfer of money in under concealment and in support of criminal activities (Cassella, 2018). Money laundering has been associated with the structuring or smurfing approach. In this case, the possibility of suspicion is minimal since the launderer makes small deposits of money over a long period of time. The process imposes great fiscal effects on organizations and individual. Prospectively, the legal system plays a major role in the identification and conviction of launderers as well as guiding policy formulation.
To begin with, money laundering is a complex proves that occurs through placement, layering and integration stages respectively (Cassella, 2018). Placement is the initial stage that involves the transfer of cash from the source into circulation through investment in casinos or other financial institution. Placement of cash occurs through processes such currency exchanges, blending of funds, currency smuggling and bank complicity. After placement stage, the second phase of layering aims at concealing the laundering process making it difficult to suspect or uncover the activities by converting the laundered cash into material assets. Lastly, the integration stage constitutes the transfer of the laundered money into banking systems for the money to appear as legally acquired business earnings. Methods used in this stage include false importation or exportation of invoices and property dealings.
With the intentions of concealing money, the laundering process has economic impacts qualifying the crime as of global concern. Characteristically, money laundering involves proceeds aimed at concealing the origin of money in attempt to making it appear legitimate and supporting criminal activities. Consequently the process impacts negatively on the scope of underground economies (Hendriyetty & Grewal, 2017) . In this case, the illicit transaction leads to the evasion of taxes which forms part of the underground economies. Also due to the booming of international trade, money laundering inflicts the capital flows. Specifically, if the money laundering processes are inclusive of international transactions, the impact on capital flaw is felt unlike those processes occurring domestically. As mentioned earlier, tax evasion is part of the money laundering process which ultimately affects the tax revenue. In business discipline, macroeconomic stabilization relies on taxation; therefore, as a predicate offense of money laundering, tax evasion occurs through the favorable environment created by money concealment and the associated proceeds.
Although terrorists have been psychologically profiled, their reclusive nature does not create a starkly contrast from other financial criminals. The assimilation of money laundering into terrorism continues to evoke debates on the relationship of the duo. Major concerns have been geared towards the analysis of the typologies that links terrorism to money laundering although the success of the policing efforts is questionable ( Chong & Lopez ‐ De ‐ Silanes, 2015). Research indicates that consulting companies act as a key driver of the money laundering in support of terrorism (Masciandaro & Volpicella, 2016) . On the legal basis, the existence of the Law Enforcement model of Financial Intelligence Unit (LEFIU) aids in the uncovering the relations between consulting firms set up in reputable countries and terrosists who capitalization on the fiscal advantage of buying off the firms in exchange for covering illicit activities.
With the impact of money laundering on the economy, the practice is graded on the global scale as an international crime. Therefore, enforcement of international anti-money laundering (AML) laws provides legal basis for tackling the crime ( Masciandaro & Volpicella, 2016). In implementing the anti-money laundering provisions, governments solicits the aid of financial intelligence units (FIU). The latter constitutes specialized agencies that are given the mandate to safeguard the interests of the organizations and institutions by preventing and tracking down suspected money laundering. However, due to the involvement of money laundering in the financing criminal activities such as terrorism, policy formulators have shifted the focus towards the Law Enforcement model of Financial Intelligence Unit (LEFIU) as the preferred framework integrating political and economic aspects ( Masciandaro & Volpicella, 2016). In contrast to the financial intelligence units, the latter has been attributed to having higher legal and police powers to investigations of money laundering.
Conclusion
This paper presumes that legal provision offers guidelines for the characterization and definition of illegal and legal considerations. The paper provides an analysis of illegal activities among them illegal drug use, illegal prostitution and money laundering. As per the principles of criminal law, an act that is illegal qualifies as a crime. Therefore, individual ought to abide by the stipulated laws and regulation failure to which they would be liable to legal repercussions. For instance illegal drug use results in violation of the law through crimes such as violence. Consequently, perpetrators face penalties such as incarceration. Besides, in jurisdictions where prostitution is criminalized, prostitution is considered as illegal and as required by the anti-prostitution laws offenders of crimes such as sexual assault, sex trafficking and sexual exploitation are liable to stature laws. Money laundering on the other hand represents financial crimes that affect the economy at domestic and international level. In general, addressing the issues of illegal drug use, illegal prostitution and money laundering brings forth insights into the concepts of crime, and its implication on the enforcement of laws and regulation as well as highlighting the need for inclusivity in legal policy formulation.
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