Drugs and Crime

(See:Drugs in American Society, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th editions, Erich Goode, McGraw-Hill, 1999/2005/2008/2012/2014. Chapter 12/13)

Thomas Szasz, in Ceremonial Chemistry: The Ritual Persecution of Drugs, Addicts, and Pushers (1985), suggests that we have, through our definition of certain drugs as evil, created a new population of scapegoats. As the religious ideologies of the past have been replaced by the therapeutic ideologies of the present; we have replaced the witches of earlier days with the "addict-criminals" of today. Just as the discovery and control of witches required the development, and in turn sustained, the institution of the inquisition, the treatment and control of the "addict-criminal" becomes the focus of activity for the "criminal justice industry."

These extrapolations of the ideas of Szasz provide us with an interesting backdrop for exploring the social reality of the drugs-crime connection.

Central Concerns:

    1. White collar/corporate? (slavery and chocolate)
    2. Institutional?
    3. Street Crime?
      1. Crimes of Violence?
      2. Property Crime?

Crime

Index Crimes 2003-2007, 2016: Uniform Crime Report

  1. Murder: 5.7-5.7/100,000 (9.4/100,000 in late 1980s)(5.4 for 2016)
  2. Rape: 32.1-31/100,000 (41/100,000 in late 1980s)(41.2 for 2016)
  3. Robbery: 142-149.4/100,000 (257/100,000 in late 1980s)(105.5 for 2016)
  4. Aggravated Assault: 295-287.5/100,000 (430/100,000 in late 1980s)(250.6 for 2016)
  5. Burglary: 740-729.4/100,000 (1,235/100,000 in late 1980s)
  6. Larceny-Theft: 2,414-2206.8/100,000 (3,200/100,000 in late 1980s)
  7. Motor Vehicle: 433-398.4/100,000 (658/100,000 in late 1980s)
  8. Arson: 30.4-24.7/100,000
  9. Hate Crimes: 7,489 incidents, 8,715 offenses, 9,100 victims
  10. Overall, ongoing decline into 2014, rates inclreasing into 2017, but still overall: down significantly from peak years.

These (1-7) are the crimes that most of us are concerned with and that we associate with the use of drugs

And, there is no correlation between drug possession arrests and rates of drug use (1979-2015). Washington Post, Wonkblog, October 12, 2016. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/10/12/police-arrest-more-people-for-marijuana-use-than-for-all-violent-crimes-combined). See, the Human Rights Watch report, 10/12/2016.

 

Key Elements of Understanding Criminal Behavior

  1. Most crime committed by small number of people (6%). Violent crime extremely concentrated. Occasional crime widespread, few are repeat serious offenders.
  2. Not much specialization, wide range of offenses. But, non-serious are not linked to serious; serious are linked to non-serious.
  3. Certain crimes predict involvement in others
  4. As per #3, robbery==> criminal lifestyle
  5. As per #3, violent crimes==> also economic, and lifestyle
  6. Career pattern: Early involvement (J.D.- esp. Violent and frequent), but most juvies do not become adult offenders
  7. Correlates of J.D. and Crime: school problems, poverty (inequality), lower IQ, problematic parenting, abuse. (Independent of drug use in terms of influencing crime) (also correlates to drug use)
  8. Low probability of arrest, more frequent offenders-- lower probability per offense: Inciardi (Miami study)- 118,134 criminal events==> 286 arrests (1/413 for all crimes, for index crimes- 1/292. Criminal career (males) 13 years==> 3.5 arrests
  9. There is little deterrent effect, especially for frequent, serious offender

Empiricism, Correlation, and Causation

Studies:

Bureau of Justice Statistics:

Research Note: Validity of Self-Reports?

Focus: Violent Crime:

ADAM: Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program: 2000 Report)

(Drug Testing Studies) (DUF: Drug Use Forecasting)

Self Reports by Jail and Prison Inmates

BUT: These striking correlations do not mean:

Problems in the Drugs-Crime Link

World Drug Report

Theoretical Models

Economic Crime

Go to National Institute of Justice publication page for additional resources.

Marijuana and Crime

Bruce Johnson (1973): Uncovered these same correlations, but makes the crucial point that:

Indication: Relationship is spurious, but nonetheless, marijuana is used by many offenders.

Alcohol and Violence

Violent Death and Alcohol

Alcohol and Assault

Causal Link?

Heroin and Violent Crime

Heroin and Predatory Crime

Inciardi: Heroin users

  • Challenges simplistic economic-compulsive model
  • Users engage in a variety of crime, vastly more likely than non-users
  • 200 crime days/year (5-10x more than non-users)
  • Use more, more variety, more serious
  • Low arrest probability
  • Males: Alcohol==> Crime==> Drugs
  • Females==> complex variations
  • Simple cause-effect: futile
  • Similar to Nurco, Kinlock, and Hanlon

Johnson: "Taking Care of Business" (1985)

  • Not all physically addicted (dependent, yes)
  • 1/3 irregular; 1/3 regular; 1/3 daily (classic junkie- rare)
  • Yet: Compulsive: crime is significant
  • Most not driven to "avoid withdrawal," yet driven none the less
  • Most regular users do not become dependent: erratic use patterns, small amount, $ problems- makes long term continual use unlikely
  • Users spend a lot less than assumed: Image- $150-300/day; BUT average income from crime==> $38/day (daily user==> $52)
  • Calculated cost of habit problematic: # of shots, size and cost (multiply by 1.7 for 2004 value): Johnson-
    1. Irregular==> Say $25, accurate review==> $4!!!!
    2. Higher frequency of use, closer estimate, BUT still off by 50%. Daily user==> $36
    3. Entire sample estimated average: $43; Actual: $18
    4. Forget about non-use days
  • Most money comes from other sources
    1. Robbery, Burglary, Shoplift: 44% (2/3 all crime income)
    2. Drug sales: most of income
    3. Day labor
    4. More frequent the use, less cash used (daily 58%==> $)
    5. "Avoidance of drug expenditures": steal, beg, borrow drugs, day labor in the heroin marketplace, mooching
  • Poly Drug use High: Cocaine and ETOH
    1. Daily: very high levels
    2. 2/3 of days==> 6 oz of Alcohol, 1/4 of days==> Cocaine
    3. Irregular- Cost of cocaine too high

    (back to Illicit Drug Industry notes)

Heroin and Crime: Summary

Cocaine and Violence

Back to Goldstein and Systemic Violence

  • Seller vs. Casual user (unless sale dispute)
  • Crack Trade:
    1. Disputational: violence as leverage
    2. Anarchistic
    3. Seller: violent, criminal background
    4. Drug trade violent in and of itself
    5. "Destabilized" neighborhoods
    6. Powerlessness at community level
    7. Decline in use==> Increase in violence!

Hamid: "Crack violence is the violence of persons reacting violently to conditions that violate"

Cocaine and Predatory Crime

Inciardi Study: Crack and Juveniles

  • Social context
  • Social circles of users, criminals overlap
  • Crime, Crack, and other drugs: Markers of entrance into deviant, criminal subculture
  • Individuals already characterized by "Non-traditional Lifestyle" (employment problems, school dropout, marital problems, etc. (Problem-prone behavior)
  • Crime intensified through subcultural development. It's the: Thrill
  • Take away Crack? Depends on what replaces it.
    1. No drug==> Crime will drop
    2. Heroin==> no change
    3. Alcohol==> Violence up, predatory down

Trends in Crime 1990s-2000s

Illicit Drug Industry

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/180/drgcrime.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel rok@umsl.edu
References and Credits for this Page of Notes
Last Updated: Thursday, April 12, 2018 11:55 AM