1. Drugs and Young People Troubles of Youth 23 rd February 2009

2. Lecture Outline Researching Prevalence and Trends Influences, Explanations and Debates Drugs-Crime Links Responses and Interventions

3. Researching Drug Usage (1) Police Reports – Heavily dependent on policing / customs investigation and recording practice – Increase in warning for cannabis use Drug-Testing of Offenders – Atypical Change in Drugs Offences 2006/07 -> 2007/08 Police Data+18% BCS Self-report (16-24 year olds) -3.3%

4. Researching Drug Usage (2) Self-report declarations – Accuracy – Honesty – Willingness to declare

5. Young People’s Self-declared use J Hoare and J Flatley (2008) Drug Misuse Declared: Findings from the 2007/08 BCS Changing Use? 1998 -2007/8 (last year usage) IncreaseDecreaseStable CocaineAny Drug Hallucinogens Opiates Cannabis Frequent Use Any Class A Crack Ecstasy Heroin

6. Gender and Ethnicity: Use of any drug: Ever, Last year, Last month

7. Lifestyle Correlates BehaviourEffect Any Drug CannabisEcstasy Visiting Nightclub 4+ times a month (v. never) X 2 X 3.5 Going to Pub 9 + times a month (v. never) X 4X 3.9x 6.7 Drank alcohol 3+ times a week (v. never in year) x8X8.4X 13.7

8. Influences, Explanations and Debates Why do people take drugs? – Addiction Mainstream and medical Quite specific medical meaning: a much more loosely defined social use Underplays choice, context and the vast majority of drug use – Peer Pressure More social Peer subcultures can offer support for drug use; status; values supportive of drug-use Underplays choice: many teen experimenters are strong individualists – Pharmopsycholgical effects (pleasure!) Links between choice of drug and particular social trends? – Consumer Culture Links to an increasingly diverse consumer culture

9. Problematic Drug Use – Typical? – Addiction – Purity – Social context, rather than drug use Gateway Theories – Experience of some drugs leading on to others – Some analytical problems – Reasons? Psychological; social; empirical? Influences, Explanations and Debates

10. The Normalisation Thesis See Howard Parker et al (1998) Illegal Leisure A growth in the use of drugs by young people Deviant acts -> mainstream leisure A weakening of the correlations between drug use and gender, ethnicity, social class A central part of youth culture The policing of drugs requires the identification of ‘problem’ drug users

11. Counter Arguments Ignores impacts of drug use Research approach: ‘naturalism’ Counter evidence Short-term fluctuations – Drug use esp. adolescent use now in decline Failure to adequately consider different types of drug use – Experimentation v. problematic use, and relation between them – Dominance of certain drugs (cannabis, ecstasy) A conflation of cultural prevalence and use An exaggeration of cultural change

12. Drugs "Stickiness": %age of "Ever Used" who have used in past month

13. Drug-Crime Links Correlation is not causation! – There is strong evidence that those who commit (other) crime also use drugs Self-report studies – Possible ‘willingness to admit’ bias? Police and Prison Testing – Skewed samples – Causal Direction Crime -> Drugs OR Drugs -> Crime Trevor Bennet and Katy Holloway (2004) ‘Drug use and offending: summary results of the first two years of the NEW-ADAM programme’ Home Office,

14. Plausible Drug-crime Links Drug Use -> crime Crime -> Drug use 3 rd Factor causes both Drug Use makes you a worse criminal: easy to catch

15. The Drugs / Acquisitive Crime Link (Hough, M et al (2001) Drugs and Crime: What are the Links?, Drugscope) Economic Necessity (Drug Use  Crime) Facilitating Crime (Crime  Drug Use) – Crime provides the money, contacts for drug use, or a lifestyle that produces a need for drugs A complex combination of the above two Both Drug Use and Crime are caused by a common factor e.g. social exclusion Not incompatible with each other All drug use or problematic drug use?

16. The Drugs / Violence Link Paul Goldstein, (1985) Psycho-pharmacological Model: drugs make people more violent Economic Compulsion: acquisitive violent crime to feed habit Violent and Drugs Subculture overlap

17. Responses and Interventions Legal Responses – Drugs (Re-)Classification Counselling, Therapy, Motivational Work Drugs Education Family Support Community Interventions Criminal Justice Responses – Arrest Referrals – Drug Testing and Treatment Orders

18. Possible Outcomes of Interventions Abstinence Delaying or Avoiding Starting Using Stopping Use Drug Use Reduction Education Harm Reduction Enforcement Deterrence Supply Disruption

19. Drugs (Re-)Classification ? Jan 2009 Harm? Criminal Justice Response? Prevention? Political Expediency?

20. Drug Testing and Treatment Order Introduced CDA 1998 Probation Supervision plus offending and drug treatment programmes: lasts 6 month -> 3 years Low completion rates (28%) – Non completion due to non-compliance (44%) or further conviction (22%) Reflect generally chaotic lifestyles