Drugs and Crime Followed By Review for Exam II

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? –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”

Exam II Multiple Guess Questions Bring ID or remember ID number

Theories of Crime Deterrence/Rational Choice Biological/Psychological Sociological –Anomie/Strain –Social Disorganization –Differential Association/Social Learning

Social Disorganization Chicago School (Shaw and McKay) –Gist of what they did and found –“Ecological Factors,” esp. “social control”

Anomie/Strain Durkheim Merton Messner and Rosenfeld (Institutional Anomie) Agnew’s GST –Main Concepts, policy implications, criticisms?

Social Learning Edwin Sutherland –Gist of DA, policy implications? –Criticisms? Ronald Akers (how change Sutherland’s theory?)

Deterrence/Rational Choice Classical School of Crime Deterrence Research –Certainty –Severity Specific vs. General Deterrence