Contextual Relationships
Contextual Relationships Between Drug Use and Crime
Unit 1 - Drug Abuse
In society today, we all want to put a stop to crime and illegal drug activity. In our daily lives, we do not think about how drugs affect the crime rate until it has happens to us or someone close to us. One of the issues that warrant this kind of attention to this problem is that we don’t fully understand the relationship between drug use and criminal activity. As we know it today, there are three contextual relationships between drug use and criminal activity. There are those drug users that commit crimes because they are under the influence, those who look to crime for the support of their drug addiction, and environmental factors and biological factors that can be responsible for a person to use drugs and commit crimes. We can take a close look at how these three situations relate to criminal activity and we could be taking a step closer to understanding why there is a problem today.
When we examine the first relationship of drug use with crime, the person who is using drugs will most likely commit offenses that he or she might not normally do. The person using drugs will most likely be arrested for theft, or driving under the influence. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducts an annual National Household Survey on Drug Abuse and post their findings on their website. Here you can find that in 1997 there was a higher percentage rate of those who were arrested for possession, use, sale or driving under the influence than those who where not on drugs. According to the study, those arrested had also used illicit drugs in the past, and they were also at a higher percentage. One of the highest percentages of a criminal activity was for larceny or theft. Those who were in possession or selling the drugs had one of the highest percentage rates of arrest as well. (Drug-Related Crime, 2000)
These persons who committed these crimes were tested positive
Unit 1 - Drug Abuse
In society today, we all want to put a stop to crime and illegal drug activity. In our daily lives, we do not think about how drugs affect the crime rate until it has happens to us or someone close to us. One of the issues that warrant this kind of attention to this problem is that we don’t fully understand the relationship between drug use and criminal activity. As we know it today, there are three contextual relationships between drug use and criminal activity. There are those drug users that commit crimes because they are under the influence, those who look to crime for the support of their drug addiction, and environmental factors and biological factors that can be responsible for a person to use drugs and commit crimes. We can take a close look at how these three situations relate to criminal activity and we could be taking a step closer to understanding why there is a problem today.
When we examine the first relationship of drug use with crime, the person who is using drugs will most likely commit offenses that he or she might not normally do. The person using drugs will most likely be arrested for theft, or driving under the influence. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conducts an annual National Household Survey on Drug Abuse and post their findings on their website. Here you can find that in 1997 there was a higher percentage rate of those who were arrested for possession, use, sale or driving under the influence than those who where not on drugs. According to the study, those arrested had also used illicit drugs in the past, and they were also at a higher percentage. One of the highest percentages of a criminal activity was for larceny or theft. Those who were in possession or selling the drugs had one of the highest percentage rates of arrest as well. (Drug-Related Crime, 2000)
These persons who committed these crimes were tested positive
References: Abadinsky, H. (2004). Drugs an introduction . 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Canham, S., Choyka J. D., Artigiani E., and Wish, E. D. (2003). Juvenile offender population urinalysis screening program. , Retrieved Mar 26, 2005, from http://www.dewsonline.org/dews/opus/annual2003.pdf. Drug-related crime. (2000). Retrieved Mar. 26, 2005, from Office of National Drug Control Policy Web site: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/ncj181056.pdf. Spiess, M., & Fallow, D. (2000). Drug related crime. White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Retrieved Mar 26, 2005, from http://www.policyalmanac.org/crime/archive/drug_related_crime.shtml.