Drugs and Economic Factors on crime - Essay Example

In the early 1990's Washington D.C. was known as the murder capital of the United s. This inglorious distinction was awarded to it because of the violent crimes that took place during that period. The number of homicides peaked in 1991 to 482 but gradually over the years the incidence of crime has reduced in Washington D.C. The number of murders declined to 198 in 2004 and in 2005 they were further reduced to 195. In spite of the improvement of law and order over the years the crime rate of Washington D.C. is above the national average. In 2005 it was ranked 13th among the most dangerous cities of United Sates. (Washington D.C., 2006) Pennsylvania in 2000 had approximately a population of 12,281,054. For the year 2000 the State of Pennsylvania had a total crime index of 2,995.3 reported incidents per 100,000 people. Pennsylvania had the 43rd highest total crime index. Pennsylvania had an incident rate of 420.0 per 100,000 people for offences which were violent in nature. The state was ranked as having the 23rd highest occurrence for violent crime among the states. (Pennsylvania Crime Rates, n.d.) Washington D.C. unlike cities like Pennsylvania has very stringent gun restriction laws. These gun restrictions have not proved to be really effective. The crime rate of Washington D.C. is very high compared to the other neighboring states like Pennsylvania which do not have gun restriction laws. A review of the areas in the United States has shown that areas like Washington D.C., Chicago, New York which have the most regulative gun laws have the highest violent crime rate. Areas in the U.S. with have fewer gun control laws and higher gun ownership also surprisingly has the least crime rate (Blanks, n.d.) Some scholars like John Lott believe that more gun restrictions lead to increased crime and violence. But scholars like Steven Levitt advocate that neither the presence nor absence of gun control laws have any significant effect on the crime rate. Steven Levitt believes that legalized abortion is one of the most important factors responsible for the crime rate in U.S. Levitt in his book Freakonomics has argued in favor of legalized abortion as the single most important factor responsible for reducing violent crime in U.S. (Gun Politics, 2006) Levitt has shown from statistics that legalized abortion has contributed immensely in bringing down the crime rate because he is of the opinion that unwanted children commit more crimes than wanted children. The legalization of abortion has resulted in fewer unwanted children and thus has helped in the reduction of crime over the years (Levitt, 2006). Even a comprehensive review of the published studies of gun control in 2004 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was also unable to arrive at any statistically significant effect that either the pro gun or no gun laws had on the crime rate. (Gun Politics, 2006) A recent study in the journal of the American Medical Association has reported that the 1994 Brady Law has done effectively nothing to reduce the crime rate. Thus it can rightly be said that gun control schemes have no relation to crime or to prevention of brutality (Blanks, n.d.) But the supporters of gun control believe that the crime rate can only be brought down through effective gun control. These supporters by believing so overlook the multifaceted factors responsible for crime and violence (Blanks, n.d.) Thus it is a fallacy to suppose that gun control laws will help to reduce crime and violence in the United States. It is an erroneous belief because then the areas with most guns would not have had the least crime rates. There are multiple factors responsible for crime and violence. If the crime rate has to be reduced then unlawful drug use and addiction, age demographics and poverty are the areas that have to be improved and worked upon. There are multiple population characteristics. Age is one of them. It is widely believed that rising teenage population leads to increase in the crime rate. A separate juvenile justice system is gradually being abandoned because of the belief that the present youth is more violent than their predecessors. (Maclair .n.d.) Thus in order to discourage the youth from indulging in violent crime they have to be encouraged to become an integral part in the economic and social development of the society and the country. Strict drug trafficking laws will discourage them from indulging in illicit drug use. Efforts should be made to encourage and motivate the teenage population by offering incentives to complete the basic school education. Education will help the youth in seeking employment in the future. Employment in turn will help them to satisfy their material needs and thus discourage them from indulging in violent crime activities for monetary benefits. Poverty and illicit drug trade are also some of the important factors which contribute to growing criminal and violent behavior. For example Camden N.J. is ranked worst in the six categories of crime. As per the statistics of 2003, it is America's most dangerous cities. Camden is one of U.S poorest cities. Its per capita income is significantly lower than the US average and more than third of the students drop out of school. There is a vicious cycle of crime and poverty. Ever since the big factories like New York Ship building Company and Campbell Soup companies have closed the presence of illicit drug has grown. All these factors have made Camden very unattractive for future employers. Due to the presence of easy money in the drug trade the youth are drawn towards it. (Netscape, n.d.) According to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 3.9% of the 14,121 homicides in 2004 were related to narcotics. (Drug Use and Crime, 2005) As per the Federal Household survey on a regular day in 1996 about 5.3 million prosecuted offenders were under the watchful eyes of the criminal justice authorities. Approximately 40% of these offenders had been using alcohol at the time of the crime for which they were prosecuted. Alcohol use has been a factor in the crime for 4 out 10 condemned murderers held in jail or state prison. Out of 10 convicted jail inmates 6 of them had said that they were drinking frequently during the year before the offence. And every second inmate out of three inmates said that they had undergone a treatment for alcohol dependency problems (Drug War Facts, 2006). Thus statistics reveal that drug and alcohol addiction apart from factors like poverty and age demographics play a very central role in criminal violent behavior. The table below comprehensively shows the effect of drugs on homicides (Drug Use and Crime, 2005) Drug-related homicides Year Number of homicides Percent drug related 1987 17,963 4.9 % 1988 17,971 5.6 1989 18,954 7.4 1990 20,273 6.7 1991 21,676 6.2 1992 22,716 5.7 1993 23,180 5.5 1994 22,084 5.6 1995 20,232 5.1 1996 16,967 5.0 1997 15,837 5.1 1998 14,276 4.8 1999 13,011 4.5 2000 13,230 4.5 2001 14,061 4.1 2002 14,263 4.7 2003 14,465 4.7 2004 14,121 3.9 Note: The percentages are based on data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) while the totals are from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). Not all homicides in the UCR result in reports in the SHR The misuse of drugs like alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, cannabis, cocaine, opium and minor tranquilizers cause physical, social and psychological damage. Misuses of drugs apart from leading to societal crime, domestic violence, poverty are also responsible for the spread of diseases like HIV and AIDS. (Drug Abuse, 2006) As per the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Newton Massachusetts was the safest city in America during 2003, 2004 and 2005. Newton has got this distinction based on crime statistics. (Newton, Massachusetts, 2006) Pennsylvania compared to cities like Washington D.C. is considered to be much safer due to the lower rate of crime and violence. There is no one singular approach to reduce crime and violence in the U.S. The current laws have to be enforced properly against people who possess illegitimate firearms. In order to bring down the crime rate attention should be on individuals who commit crimes. Numerous cities and states in U.S. have already started this process as a result of which there has been a sharp decline in the crime rate (Blanks, n.d.) Washington D.C. neighborhoods like Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan and Logan Circle which were once afflicted with violent crime are gradually becoming relatively safe to stay. As a result of decreasing crime rate the economy of the place has also undergone a sea change. Spanking new condos and apartments have been built and many up market restaurants, bars, galleries and other attractions have been added to these places. (Crime in Washington, 2006) Thus after going through all the factors concerning crime and gun control we can say that it is a myth to think that gun or no gun control is solely responsible for the violent crime rate. Reference List Washington D.C. (2006) Retrieved April 4, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%2C_D.C Pennsylvania Crime Rates 1960-2000. n.d. Retrieved April 7, 2006, from http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/pacrime.htm Blanks .n.d. Guns vs Crime. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://www.american-partisan.com/cols/blanks/081400.htm Maclair. n.d. Dispelling the Myth: An Analysis of Youth and Adult Crime Patterns in California over the Past 20 Years. Retrieved from http://www.cjcj.org/pubs/myth/myth.html Camden, N.J. Copes as Most Crime-Ridden U.S. City. n.d. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://channels.netscape.com/homerealestate/feature.jspstory=crimeridden Drug Use and Crime. 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/duc.htm Drug War Facts. 2006. Retrieved April 5, 2006, from http://www.drugwarfacts.org/alcohol.htm Drug Abuse. 2006. Retrieved April 6, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_abuse Read More