Chapter 13 Public Order Crimes Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
Chapter Outline Drug abuse and crime Alcohol and crime Sexual morality offenses
Legislative Acts Regulating Drug Use in the United States Harrison Act (1914) Regulated domestic use, sale, and transfer of opium and coca products Marijuana Tax Act (1937) Placed a prohibitive tax of $100 an ounce on the drug Boggs Act (1951) Increased penalties for possession of and trafficking in marijuana Controlled Substances Act (1970) Placed marijuana in the category of the most serious substances
Legislative Acts Regulating Drug Use in the United States (continued) 1970 federal legislation made it necessary to bring state legislation into conformity with federal law Uniform Controlled Substances Act Title 21 of the United States Code All federal laws Amendments that were passed since 1970 Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988
Patterns of Drug Abuse 1950s 1960s 1980s 1989 Heroin abuse in inner cities among young black and Hispanic males 1960s Marijuana became drug of choice among the whites and the middle-class 1980s Cocaine use among prosperous professionals in their 20s and 30s 1989 Use of crank Mixture of crack and heroin
Criminal Implications of Addiction Money laundering: Concealing illegally obtained money Catastrophic political impact on drug- producing countries High incidence of corruption and crime Government instability and coups Alliance of drug dealers with terrorist groups
Drug Control Treatment approach through: Self-help groups and psychotherapy Detoxification Rap houses Community social-action efforts Residential therapeutic communities Methadone maintenance programs Drug court
Drug Control (continued) Legalization Subjecting drugs to some government control and restrictions but making them available to all adults Challenges Conflicting legal jurisdictions Laws governing possession versus sales
Legalization of Alcohol Ratification in 1971 of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowered the minimum-age requirement for the purchase and sale of alcoholic beverages
Violence Related to Alcohol Reduces restraint on aggression Reduces awareness of consequences Social situations where violence is an expected behavior Drunk driving
Sexual Morality Offenses Statutory rape: Illegal sexual activity between two people when it would otherwise be legal if not for their age Prostitution: Solicitation of sex for money White Slave Traffic Act - Prohibits the interstate transportation of females for purposes of prostitution
Sexual Morality Offenses (continued 1) Deviate sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse per os or per anum between human beings who are not husband and wife and any form of sexual intercourse with an animal Known as sodomy in common law
Sexual Morality Offenses (continued 2) Pornography Portrayal of sexually explicit material Criminal offense to produce, offer for sale, sell, distribute, or exhibit certain kinds of pornographic material Regulation of pornography on the Internet lacks global cooperation Gap exists between sexual morality offenses and the law
Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography (1986) Leads to a greater acceptance of rape myths and violence against women Results in pronounced effects when the victim is shown enjoying the use of force or violence Arousing for rapists and for some males Results in sexual aggression against women in the laboratory
Pornography and the Internet Communications Decency Act (1996) Felony to: Knowingly use a telecommunications device or interactive computer to send an indecent communication to a child Use a computer to display indecent material in a manner accessible to a child Violations punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of $250,000
Pornography and the Internet (continued) Issues surrounding government regulation Legislation on pornography varies around the world making it easier to be sent across borders Distinction between eroticism and child pornography