Drugs and Crime

In today’s society the war against drugs has become one of the biggest concerns of all law enforcement officials. One of the main reasons behind stopping the distribution of drugs is the fact that the use of drugs is directly related to crime. According to Drugs in American Society (2005) users of drugs are extremely more likely to participate in criminal activity and engage in more violent and serious crimes. It also states that “The more one uses drugs, the more one is likely to be involved in criminal activity.” These are not just statements or opinions. It is a fact in every study that has been conducted that drug use and criminality are “very positively correlated.”

Many crimes are committed either while the criminal is under the influence of drugs or needs to get money for drugs. Alcohol is commonly a factor also. Even though a lot of people don’t view alcohol as a drug because it is legal, it definitely is a drug. In 2004 eighteen percent of the victims of violent crimes reported that offender was under the influence of alcohol when they attacked them. These aren’t just estimates these are facts recorded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. It is one thing to state an opinion on how drugs are related to criminal activity. But with number like these to support the opinions, there are no doubts that drugs and crime are directly related. College students are one of the groups most affected by the use of drugs and alcohol pertaining to criminal activity. Overall about forty-one percent of crimes committed against a college student were committed while the offender was under the influence of drugs. College campuses are also prone to have many sexual assaults because of the age of the people attending and the amount of women that attend college. Out of all the sexual assaults that are committed on college campuses about half of the assaulters were under he influence of drugs or alcohol at the time. Not to say that if these people weren’t under the influence that they wouldn’t have committed sexual assault. But people under the influence of drugs or alcohol tend to act out irrationally. Someone who may have taken no for an answer when they were sober may now take it as an offense, get angry, and force themselves on that person when they are under the influence. Many drugs, and certainly alcohol at times, tend to change one’s personality. Someone who is usually laid back and calm may become irrational once under the influence. Of course drugs cannot be completely to blame because the person still has the choice of whether or no to engage in the act of taking the drug or drugs. But once that particular drug takes over, that person’s mind state is not what we would consider to be “normal”.

Heroin is one drug that is often linked to crime. Heroin is a highly dependent drug. So when someone addicted to heroin runs out of heroin and money they are willing to go anything to use again. Heroin addicts become more addicted than other users because after a while your body actually “needs” heroin to feel healthy. If an addict was to go off of heroin for just a few days they would begin to withdrawal and become extremely sick. Most heroin addicts aren’t even able to get out of bed when not using heroin for a period of time because they are so sick. Heroin becomes more of a necessity than a habit for these addicts. They believe they need it and will go by any means to come upon money to get it. It was found that forty-four percent of all heroin addicts money for drugs comes from either robbery, burglary, or shoplifting. A common crime for a heroin addict to commit would be to steal something of value from a store or warehouse and then pawn it a pawn shop for some quick cash. But most addicts make the mistake of going to the same stores or warehouses to steal and end up getting caught. Because of the high dependency, heroin addicts feel the need to use at least two to three times a day. Once the addicts are under the influence it is unpredictable what they might do to get more money for the drug they feel they need.

Cocaine and crack are also two drugs which its users produce a high crime rate. Cocaine and