Illegal drugs are related to crime in multiple ways. Most directly, it is a crime to use, possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse (such as cocaine, heroin, morphine and amphetamines). Drugs are also related to crime as drug trafficking and drug production are often controlled by drug cartels, organized crime and gangs. The statistics on this page summarize the various ways that drugs and crime are related in the United States. Links for other countries are provided below. Some drug related crime involves crime against the person such as robbery or sexual assaults.
2002 in U.S. about a quarter of convicted property and drug offenders in local jails had committed their crimes to get money for drugs, compared to 5% of violent and public order offenders. Among State prisoners in 2004 the pattern was similar, with property (30%) and drug offenders (26%) more likely to commit their crimes for drug money than violent (10%) and public-order offenders (7%). In Federal prisons property offenders (11%) were less than half as likely as drug offenders (25%) to report drug money as a motive in their offenses. In 2004, 17% of U.S. State prisoners and 18% of Federal inmates said they committed their current offense to obtain money for drugs. These percentages represent a slight increase for Federal prisoners (16% in 1997) and a slight decrease for State prisoners (19% in 1997).
Of the adult US population, at least 75% are drinkers; and about 6% of the total group are alcoholics. In groups which are almost 100% drinkers, the alcoholism rate is about 8%. Many reports state that about 73% of felonies are alcohol-related. One survey shows that in about 67% of child-beating cases, 41% of forcible rape cases, 80% of wife-battering, 72% of stabbings, and 83% of homicides, either the attacker or the victim or both had been drinking.
Drug abuse and addiction to benzodiazepines is associated with drug related crime. In the U.S. several jurisdictions have reported that benzodiazepine abuse by criminal detainees has surpassed that of opiates. Patients reporting to two emergency rooms in Canada with violence-related injuries were most often found to be intoxicated with alcohol and were significantly more likely to test positive for benzodiazepines (most commonly temazepam) than other groups of individuals, whereas other drugs were found to be insignificant in relation to violent injuries. Research carried out on drug related crime found that benzodiazepine misuse is associated with various crimes which are in part related to the feelings of invincibility and disinhibitory effects of benzodiazepines which can become particularly pronounced with abuse of benzodiazepines. Problematic crimes associated with benzodiazepines include shoplifting, property crime, drug dealing, violence and aggression and driving whilst intoxicated. In Scotland among the 71% of suspected criminals testing positive for controlled drugs at the time of their arrest benzodiazepines are detected more frequently than opiates and are second only to cannabis which is the most frequently detected drug. Research carried out by the Australian government found that benzodiazepine users are more likely to be violent, more likely to have been in contact with the police and to have been charged with criminal behavior than those using opiates. Illicit benzodiazepines mostly originate from medical practitioners but leak onto the illicit scene due to diversion and doctor shopping. Although only a very small number originate from thefts, forged prescriptions, armed robberies or ram raids it is most often benzodiazepines, rather than opiates which are targeted in part because benzodiazepines aren't usually locked in vaults and or don't have as strict laws governing prescription and storage of many benzodiazepines.
Benzodiazepines have been used as a tool of murder by serial killers, murderers, and as a murder weapon by those with the condition Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Benzodiazepines have also been used to facilitate rape or robbery crimes, and benzodiazepine dependence has been linked to shoplifting due to the fugue state induced by the chronic use of the drug. When benzodiazepines are used for criminal purposes against a victim they are often mixed with food or drink. Flunitrazepam, temazepam, and midazolam are the most common benzodiazepines used to facilitate date rape. Alprazolam has been abused for the purpose of carrying out acts of incest and for the corruption of adolescent girls. However, alcohol remains the most common drug involved in cases of drug rape. Although benzodiazepines and ethanol are the most frequent drugs used in sexual assaults, GHB is another potential date rape drug which has received increased media focus. Some benzodiazepines are more associated with crime than others especially when abused or taken in combination with alcohol. The potent benzodiazepine flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), which has strong amnesia producing effects can cause abusers to become ruthless and also cause feelings of being invincible. This has led to some acts of extreme violence to others, often leaving abusers with no recollection of what they have done in their drug-induced state. It has been proposed that criminal and violent acts brought on by benzodiazepine abuse may be related to lowered serotonin levels via enhanced GABAergic effects. Flunitrazepam has been implicated as the cause of one serial killers violent rampage, triggering off extreme aggression with anterograde amnesia. A study on forensic psychiatric patients who had abused flunitrazepam at the time of their crimes found that the patients displayed extreme violence, lacked the ability to think clearly and experienced a loss of empathy for their victims while under the influence of flunitrazepam and it was found that the abuse of alcohol or other drugs in combination with flunitrazepam compounded the problem. Their behaviour under the influence of flunitrazepam was in contrast to their normal psychological state.
The concept of drug related crime has been criticized for being too blunt, especially in its failure to distinguish between three types of crime associated with drugs :
Drug related crime may be used as a justification for prohibition, but in the case of system-related crime, the acts are only crimes because of prohibition. In addition, some consider even user-related and economic-related aspects of crime as symptomatic of a broader problem, clarification needed] and the Obama administration considers drug use as health problem, rather than a criminal problem.
Although there is correlation between drugs use and crime it is not trivial to attribute the cause of crimes to the effects of drugs. Australian Institute of Criminology has stated "Research suggests that drug use and crime involvement have common origins. Factors such as poor social support systems, difficulty in school, membership of deviant peer groups, early contact with government services and a lack of access to economic support systems are common in the backgrounds of both drug users and criminals." Detailed studies by National Institute on Drug Abuse and others have shown that drugs are not a cause of crime.
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