A Comprehensive Analysis of the Drug-Crime Relationship

Drug-use and drug-related criminal offending are among the greatest concerns of policy-makers, law-enforcement officials, scientists, physicians, and citizens alike. There is a growing interest on the part of all parties to examine the causes, possible correlations, and consequences of the drug-crime relationship. This research paper examines the conceptions regarding the drug-crime relationship. First, this paper examines past and present United States drug policies that substantially impact how the " war on drugs " is waged from several perspectives. Second, this paper will examine the three explanatory models that encompass the drug-crime relationship: drug use leads to crime, crime leads to drug use, and drug-crime relationship is explained by other causes. Furthermore, the relationship between drug-use leading to crime has three sub-models or theories, which were first introduced by criminologist Paul Goldstein (1985) that will be examined: the psychopharmacological model, economic motivation model, and systemic model. Finally, this paper will examine two popular illicit drugs, heroin and crack-cocaine, and how the use of these drugs relates to criminal offending. Key findings through this research include high drug use among the arrested population, and high levels of criminal offending among drug users. Furthermore, empirical evidence for the relationship between heroin addicts and violent criminal ii offending is virtually nonexistent, thus occurring less frequently than property and other non-violent crimes. Additionally, research has shown that robbery and other property crimes are considerably higher during the heroin addiction period than pre-addiction or non-addiction periods. Studies involving crack-cocaine users typically report that users have higher rates of property and violent crimes than those who do not use crack-cocaine or those who use the drug less frequently. By examining the drug-crime relationship, three central research questions will be explored. 1. How have US drug policies changed over time, and what impact has it had on drug-use and criminal offending? 2. Why are crimes committed by drug-using offenders? 3. What crimes are being committed by heroin and crack-cocaine users?