Drugs and crime are literally everywhere. Drug abuse and crime go hand-in-hand. Drugs cause crime. Legalizing drugs is not the answer. Punishments should fit the crime. Repeat offenders should have harsher punishments. The history of drugs shows increasing drug use, abuse, and crime rates that relate to drug use and abuse.
The History of Drugs
“Human beings have always had a desire to eat or drink substances that make them feel relaxed, stimulated, or euphoric.” Drug history, Drug Rehabs.Org. Drug use goes far back in history when people used “strong medicine” such as herbal remedies. Herbal remedies were used for pain killers and other healing purposes such as ointments for cuts and bruises and liniments for sore muscles and backs. Medicine men were also the people to go to for health problems and aches and pains. As society progressed, new drugs and “pain relievers” were being introduced into the mainstream. Tonics that were the “cure all for various problems like male and female pattern baldness, warts, acne, and the common cold were sold publicly and usually made with alcohol and gave the consumer an effect from taking the tonic, so they assumed it was working and did not care. Alcohol was used as a pain reliever, usually as whiskey or brandy and was used for patients that had chronic pain such as back pain, cancer, and arthritis. People knew little of the consequences of the long term effects of drug use in the early years as they do in present times. “As with any drugs, some recreational drugs are addictive, most are harmful to one's health, and some are illegal in most places.” Drug Rehabs.Org.
Crime and Drug Use Statistics show that drugs do cause crime. “In 2004, 17% of U.S. State prisoners and 18% of Federal inmates said they committed their current offense to obtain money for drugs.” US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004. “In a 2007 study of 10 U.S. counties, 40 percent of the arrestees tested positive
References: Katel, P. (2009, June 12). Legalizing marijuana. CQ Researcher, 19, 525-548. Retrieved July 31, 2010, from CQ Public Affairs Collection, http://library.cqpress.com/cqpac/cqresrre2009061200. Law and law enforcement, 1993-1996 legislative overview. (1997). In Congress and the nation, 1993-1996 9 http://library.cqpress.com/cqpac/catn93-0001453196. Clark, C. S. (1993, September 3). Suburban violence. CQ Researcher, 3, 769-792. Retrieved July 31, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1993090300 Reports of the President 's Commission on Organized Crime. (1987). In Historic documents of 1986. Washington: CQ Press. Retrieved July 31, 2010, from CQ Press Electronic Library, CQ Public Affairs Collection, http://library.cqpress.com/cqpac/hsdc86-0001151146. Document ID: hsdc86-0001151146. Cooper, M. H. (2000, July 28). Drug-policy debate. CQ Researcher, 10, 593-624. Retrieved July 31, 2010, from CQ Public Affairs Collection, http://library.cqpress.com/cqpac/cqresrre2000072800 Masci, D. (2002, March 15). Preventing teen drug use. CQ Researcher, 12, 217-241. Retrieved July 31, 2010, from CQ Public Affairs Collection, http://library.cqpress.com/cqpac/cqresrre2002031500 DrugRehabs.Org http://www.drug-rehabs.org/drughistory.php US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug-related_crime US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2007, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/drug.cfm US bureau of Justice Statistics, October 1, 2002, http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=780