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آثار العقوبة في ردع الشباب عن تعاطي المخدرات: دراسة تحليلية في ضوء القانون الفلسطيني

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Abstract

This study discussed the effects of legal punishment on deterring Palestinian youth from drugs in the light of Palestinian law. It is an in-depth study on the approach of the Palestinian penal policy towards this issue. Its importance lies in illuminating how punishment can accomplish its role in maintaining the balance between deterring drug users on the one hand and treating and rehabilitating them during the penalty enforcement phase on the other. The Palestinian Government has recently been facing the problem of rising number of addicts, according to Palestinian Police statistics in 2016-2019. The researcher conducted this study to determine the reasons behind this increase. Does this increase have a legal background due to the absence of a deterrent penalty, or does it have other reasons? To achieve this, the researcher used in his study the descriptive and analytical approach, which fits with the study, to clarify the approach of the Palestinian penal policy, its legislation of laws against drug crimes, the penalties prescribed for them, and their methods of enforcement, in addition to linking it to current reality through the inductive method. The researcher also used the two instruments of interview and questionnaire. Questionnaire was administered to rehabilitated addicts to determine whether the punishment deters them from returning to their crime of drug use and addiction. Based on the foregoing, the researcher concluded a set of results, most importantly the urgency to adopt a deterrent and effective punitive approach towards drug users. Freedom-depriving punishments alone are not sufficient to accomplish their role unless they are accompanied by treatment and rehabilitation programs for drug users. The law has also been properly enforced after 2019, following its application and obligating judges to take strict measures against the addict who relapse after the first chance of rehabilitation. As for the reasons and factors that lead to relapse among the Palestinian youth: Family- and socialization-related factors are among the most important reasons, in addition to the Israeli occupation, unemployment, and poverty resulting from the war waged by the Israeli occupants in an attempt to dismantle the social ties of the Palestinian people and preoccupy them with drug crime. The criminal policies in Palestine in the fight against drugs—imprisonment of the drug addict, followed by reform—has not reduced addiction. However, stricter punishment is considered as among the most important policies of the Palestinian lawmaker to exit this predicament. It has achieved positive results in reducing addiction in 2020-2021, but the results have not reached the required level. From here, and for these reasons, the researcher proposes several recommendations to the authorities in Palestine, starting from prosecutors and judges to reform and rehabilitation centers and civil society in general, to curtail addiction and minimize chances of relapse. The researcher will present these recommendations in their place.

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Matric: 4182537 (FSU)

Keywords

Palestinian youth, Palestinian law, Drug abuse, Palestinian Government, Palestinian Police, Rehabilitation, Palestine, Drug abuse—Government policy, Drug abuse—Treatment, Middle East—Social conditions

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