Drug Use and Crime - Essay Example

Drug Use and Crime Name Course Date Introduction The Australian Standard Classification of Drugs of Concern (ASCDC) defines drugs as chemical substances whose availability and usage has been regulated by policies or programs that have been put in place, and also the substance has been identified to be of concern by key stakeholders in sectors such as health crime, justice and welfare in the Australian context. This definition generally includes drugs that are legally restricted for example, heroin and cannabis, as well as those that are legally obtainable but there are strategies in place to control their demand and to reduce their harm, for example tobacco and alcohol. Drug use has been related to crime especially due to ability of drugs to intoxicate the users making them to loose control of their actions. This paper therefore seeks to look into the relationship between drug use and crime and also look into the suitability of whether legalizing the illicit drugs would reduce criminal behavior. Relationship between Drugs and Crime Goldstein (1985) used three models to explain the relationship between drug use and crime. These were Psychopharmacological Violence model, Economic Compulsive Model and Systemic Violence model. According to Goldstein’s Psychopharmacological Violence model, some people who have been into long term or short term drug use tend to become emotional and irrational and sometimes they may become violent. This behavior is mostly related to consumption of alcohol and others stimulants. The violent behavior may erupt at home leading to abuse of a child or a spouse, or even at the work place, in the bars or on the streets. This therefore leads to victimization of that person as having committed a crime (Goldstein, 1985). The economic compulsive model states that drug users may engage in economically related crimes such as robbery so that they can obtain money to meet to cost of drugs. Drugs such as Heroin and Cocaine are expensive and have an uncontrollable usage pattern can lead the user into such crimes. Such people are therefore not led into violence by the drugs, but by the need to obtain those drugs. The most common victims of such offenders may be those residing in their neighborhood, who may also be engaging in illicit activities. Other victims may be those buying drugs in the same neighborhood and prostitutes (Goldstein, 1985). The systemic violence model explains that violence is naturally related to engagement with illicit substances. This kind of systemic violence is usually the common aggressive manner of interaction within a drug distribution system and among drug users. The system is characterized by violence resulting from territory rivalry among drug dealers, punishments due to sale of adulterated drugs, punishments due to failure to pay for drugs, robberies of the dealers and retaliatory attacks, and elimination of spies among others. The perpetrators of these crimes are usually the drugs users who have progressed in their drug usage. Systemic violence victims are mainly those involved in drug use and trafficking but sometimes violence may affect other people such as victims of stray bullets that are fired during disputes or families of drug dealers who may be targeted in retaliatory attacks (Weissman, 1999). Other crimes related to drug use include drunk driving and prostitution. Most people engage in prostitution to support their drug use habits while prostitutes are also common victims of rape and other forms of physical assault (Hunt, 2006). Legalizing Illicit Drugs The issue of whether legalizing illicit drugs would reduce criminal behavior has attracted a lot of divided opinions. Those arguing for it base their claims on the failed drug laws and the fact that illicit drugs are widely available in various parts of the world. Those arguing in favor of legalization recommend that the government should come up with a regulated market which would help to seize drug supply from the control of criminals and also help the government to secure the associated revenue (Mora, 1992). I however argue against legalization of illicit drugs as a way of reducing criminal behavior and view it as a way of increasing criminal behavior. One of the reasons is that legalization of drugs would lead to drug abuse. This is because drug availability and accessibility will be increased (George &Ya coubian, 2001). A drug such as heroin depressed the ability of people to achieve their goals and to take up responsibilities. If such a drug is used by parents, they might end up neglecting their children and not taking up their parenting responsibilities properly. These children will lack basic things such as education and crime will be one of their possible means to earn their living. Similarly, the children will grow in an environment where heroin is freely used and are likely to use it too. This will make them unable to achieve their life goals ending up in poverty and most likely crime (Weissman, 1999). Legalization of illicit drugs would mean that the drug dealers, distributers and producers will no longer be referred to as criminals. The crime explained by Goldstein’s Systemic Violence model will not stop because just like other markets, there will be unscrupulous business practices. Drug dealers will form cartels that would use terror and violence to scare away competitors. The cartels would even thrive more where legalization would be only in some countries. Cartels depend on elimination of others or limiting their supply power for their success and all this is achieved through criminal activities (Bordua & Inciardi, 2006). Al long as drugs elicit violent behavior among users, a legally purchased drug will not cause a different action in the user that would not occur with an illegally purchased drug. Legalizing the drugs will neither change the factors that lead people into using them, nor will it stop them from using drugs as excuses to violence. Whether legal or not, drugs will lead to crime. Violence is naturally part of the nature of drug users and legalizing them will not change their nature. What makes drugs dangerous is not the fact that they are illegal; they are simply illegal because they are dangerous (Kirby, 2009). Drug trade is also related to terrorism. After the September 11 terrorist attack that happened in America, investigations resulted in freezing of their accounts. Since then they turned to drug trafficking to earn money to fund their activities. Legalization of drugs would therefore make it easier for the terrorists to raise money to finance terrorism (Deitch, Koutsenok & Ruiz, 2000). The economic crimes related to drug use where users steal to finance the cost of drugs will not stop because legalization will not avail money to the users and it will also not make drugs cheaper. If legalization will make drugs cheaper, it will encourage more use and more addiction. As addiction increases, economic crimes will increase because the users will need money to constantly fund their addictions. Also, with increased addiction, the users will require more supply of drugs and therefore more money to spend on the large amount of the drugs. This will still lead them into stealing (James, 2004). Legalizing drugs will have to put in place regulations upon the usage for example on the minors, military personnel, drivers and prisoners among others. This will encourage crime that is associated with black markets and organized gangs. A black market will be established to fill the gap created by the groups whose consumption is prohibited. Legalization will also be accompanied by levying the imported drugs. A black market will still occur due to smuggling. An example of this happened in China in the early 20th century when the country imposed levies on opium. Organized groups smuggled the drug into America in efforts to evade the tariffs. Another example was on taxation of tobacco in America where organized groups resorted into smuggling it form countries where taxes were low into where taxes were high making a profit (Duncan, 1999). When a black market comes up, the illegal traders tend to use violence against the legal traders so that they can also get their share of the market (Inciardi, 1998). Conclusion Drugs and crime are so well related. Drugs are associated with three types of crimes: those related to their purchase such as robbery, crimes induced by drug use such as rape and violent behavior and crimes related to their sale by creating a black market. Legalization of drugs will not end any of these crimes. This is because it will start by making them cheaper therefore creating more users and more addicts. These will still need money to purchase them and in large mounts due to increased addiction. Since some drugs make users unable to achieve their life goals, they will not be able to work to earn money to purchase them and will therefore end up stealing. Legalization will also not reduce the effect that drugs have on the users such as violent behavior. The more available they are, the more the consumption and the same effect will remain. Therefore crime related to effect of the drugs will not end. Lastly, when their trade is legalized, the black market will arise together with its associated crimes such as smuggling, elimination of informers and legal traders. Reference List Deitch, D., Koutsenok, I., & Ruiz, A. (2000). The Relationship Between Crime And Drugs: What We Have Learned In Recent Decades. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 391-397. Weissman, J. (1999). Understanding the Drugs and Crime Connection: A Systematic Examination of Drugs and Crime Relationships. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 171-192. Kirby, S. (2009). Drugs and Crime: Theories and practices. Drugs and Alcohol Today, 32-33. Goldstein, P. (1985). The drugs/violence nexus: A tripartite conceptual framework. Journal of Drug Issues 15:493–506. Hunt, D. (2006). Drugs and Consensual Crimes: Drug Dealing and Prostitution. Crime and Justice, 159-159. James Q. (2004). "Against the Legalization of Drugs," Commentary, Volume 89, No. 2, February 1990. Inciardi, J. (1998). Between Politics and Reason: The Drug Legalization Debate. American Journal of Sociology, 1103-1104. Bordua, D., & Inciardi, J. (2006). The Drug Legalization Debate. Contemporary Sociology, 754-754. Mora, B. (1992). The drug legalization debate. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 189-190. Duncan, D. (1999). Drug abuse prevention in post-legalization America: What could it be like? The Journal of Primary Prevention, 317-322. George S. &Ya coubian, G. (2001). Beyond The Theoretical Rhetoric: A Proposal To Study The Consequences Of Drug Legalization. Journal of Drug Education, 319-328. Aistralina Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Australian Standard Classification of Drugs of Concern 2011, retrieved from   http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/1248.0main+features82011 Read More