Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Topic A: Prisoner Reform: A Second Chance

As much as this committee is focused on prosecuting crime, the Committee on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) also invests in prevention methods to stop potential crimes in the future. Recidivism, or the tendency of someone who committed a crime to reoffend, can pose multiple risks to the community. If people are committing crimes, even after jail time, that goes to show that governments around the world must consider other measures for crime prevention. Crime levels will rise if governments do not develop mechanisms of preventing crime even if it is crime by people who were punished by law already. The CCPCJ prioritizes the safety of communities which recidivism jeopardizes. In most societies, it is common for people to think that since a person was convicted and served jail time for a crime, they will no longer commit crimes - which is not true. Incarceration does punish someone for their crimes, but it does not change the lifestyle that someone is living. Prisoner reform is defined as a measure of prioritizing rehabilitation and making incarceration, or getting arrested, a last resort1. Reform efforts help formerly-incarcerated individuals to assimilate into society and avoid being arrested again. Often, former prisoners are arrested again because they lacked treatment and support to be able to sustain life out of prison. For example, when former prisoners had access to drug treatment programs post-incarceration, drug-related recidivism decreased by 30% internationally2. This statistic demonstrates one of the many programs created to support offenders to improve their lifestyles while also decreasing drug-related crimes that threaten community safety. Also, prison reform programs help to restore the dignity of former convicts1. Instead of being disenfranchised once they reenter society, rehabilitation programs can help them make the adjustment and set them up to be successful. Additionally, not only does prisoner reform help offenders adjust, but it also helps the prison systems around the world better serve the convicted. As of 2025, there are approximately 11.5 million people incarcerated3. Considering this is a large population in prison, systems around the world, such as jails, cannot keep this many prisoners leading to overcrowding. This issue can impact prisoners because if prison conditions decline, so will the standard of living. If offenders are being held in poor conditions by their government, there could be human rights violations which the United Nations (UN) seeks to uphold1. Therefore, creating programs for offenders to sustain life outside of the justice system will help prevent more people from being put back into the crowded justice systems. For the sake of both crime prevention and maintaining the human rights of prisoners, rehabilitation programs generated through prisoner reform efforts around the world will benefit not only the formerly incarcerated, but the communities they are a part of.

Topic B: Illegal Pharmaceuticals Trafficking

Around the world, many intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations (UN), have set clear regulations for which medications and drugs are dangerous for public manufacture and consumption. Often, these substances are classified as unsafe in general or solely safe when handled by a medical provider. Pharmaceutical trafficking, often referred to as drug trafficking, refers to the illicit manufacture and distribution of pharmaceuticals1. These substances can range anywhere from cannabis to highly addictive opioids2. An important note is that the legality of some substances, such as cannabis, is country-dependent. Some countries, like Canada, have cannabis as a legal substance, and some nations, such as Kenya, do not 5,6. However, synthetic opioids are more largely banned by governments because they are highly addictive and prove to have a higher risk of someone overdosing4. People will develop these substances and sell them, often gaining personal profit despite being in direct violation of international drug prohibition laws1. In fact, the UN estimates that this business brings in about $426 billion each year for people trafficking pharmaceuticals2. Although there have been several UN treaties and laws passed regarding this issue, trafficking of illicit substances continues today and puts greater society in danger. In 2021, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that 27.7 million deaths worldwide were attributed to drug use, which is more than double the drug-related deaths recorded in 20103. The primary issue is that highly addictive and dangerous drugs, mainly opioids, are becoming more accessible to the public through drug traffickers. When trafficking groups make drugs, especially synthetic opioids, they can sell them and brand them however they want without interference from health agencies that could otherwise vet the drug. For example, groups can advertise a substance as cannabis without mentioning that synthetic fentanyl is also in the same drug4. When a customer consumes this drug, they have a higher chance of overdosing and, in turn, dying because they took a synthetic opioid without realizing it. The goal of the Committee on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) will be to find solutions to limit drug trafficking around the world. Deterring people from cultivating and distributing dangerous substances will help prevent the public from being misled and overall improve public health internationally. Fewer illegal substances accessible to people may correlate with fewer overdoses and drug-related deaths and, therefore, a healthier global population.

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