Drugs and Crime BUT FIRST, EXAM II

Exam II Scores

Drug Use History Relationship between drugs and crime Drug Control Strategy The Legalization Debate Theories of Drug Use

A Long History of Substance Use The use of chemical substances to “get high” dates back to ancient times Mesopotamian writings (4,000 years ago) identify opium as the “plant of joy” Until recently, most “drugs” legal Winston Churchill (1912) used a “cocaine solution”; common “cure all” drugs were opium-based

Criminalization of Drugs Late 1800s in U.S. “Moral Crusaders,” especially religious Medical field began to suggest morphine and opiates were “habit-forming” and constituted a “disease” The “temperance movement” Passing Drug Laws 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act 1914 Harrison Narcotics Act 1937 Marijuana Taxation Act

The Relationship Between Drugs and Crime Drug-defined offenses Possession and Sales Drug-related offenses Drug induced rage  assault Rob to feed drug habbit Drug-using lifestyle Crimes relevant to “lifestyle”

Drug Control Strategies War on Drugs = $500 Billion over past 20 years Source Control Interdiction Punishment (Deterrence) Drug Education Drug Testing Drug Treatment

Drug Legalization? Pro? Con? Reduce crime by eliminating “drug-defined crimes” Reduce violence generated by black market Reduce police corruption (?) Con? Increased drug use and social cost

Theories of Drug Use? Most theories of crime can also explain drug use (social learning, social control) The “Gateway” argument Are cigarettes a “gateway” to pot? Is pot a “gateway” to “hard drugs?” Alternative explanation “Something” causes both cigarette and pot use, both pot use and “hard drug use”