IT IS THE DRUGS THAT MADE ME DO IT - Essay Example

In claiming that their addiction led someone into a life of crime is a fallacy, at best. Criminal behaviour, like drug abuse, alcohol abuse, truancy, spousal abuse, promiscuity, and other risky behaviours are all lifestyle choices. One does not cause another. The confusion and misconception that has surrounded this notion for years lies in the fact that often risky behaviour such as drug abuse and criminal behaviour are, along with other behaviours, found in the same groups of people – those who chose this type of life for themselves.

In the following report, conclusive proof is respectfully presented to the court which conclusively proves that heroin abuse doe not cause a person to commit a crime. Criminal behavior is a deliberate lifestyle choice. The cost of drug abuse and known crime is huge; however, as will be shown shortly, much of the drug related crime either goes unreported, unsolved or not connected to drug abuse. The problem is pervasive both in the UK and within the United States. As early as 1998 it was estimated that in the UK alone the cost of drug offenders within the criminal justice system was conservatively set at £1 billion per year, and that is just the beginning.

Police in the UK estimate that approximately 50% of the drug related crime is hidden.1 This will be shown in detail shortly, but, in effect, either drug related crimes are not reported, are not solved, or the offender is convicted of the crime but it is not linked to drug abuse. The relationship between drug abuse and criminality has been noted empirically since the 1960s. However, it was not until the following decade that the extent and nature of this causal relationship began to be understood.

As early as 1974 Greenberg and Adler’s study concluded that heroin use could not be linked to criminal behaviour as the vast majority of the subjects in their study possessed a long history of