1. Drugs and Crime
BUT FIRST, EXAM II

2. Exam II Scores

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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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”

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

8. 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

9. 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”