preview

The Relationship Between Substance Abuse and Crime Essay

Good Essays
“Drugs and Alcohol abuse”, are phrases we hear commonly on the radio, television or in discussions of social problems. People believe it is the user’s personal choice however; it is not only a personal problem that dramatically affects individuals’ life but is a major social problem that affects society as whole. It has become one of the biggest problems in United States today. Alcohol or Drug abuse nearly automatically is linked with criminal acts. The statistical association between alcohol or drug abuse with crime seems to be convincing when examined at the first glance; however, it is not possible to make a conclusion concerning a distinct cause and effect association between the two aspects. Accordingly, this paper will examine…show more content…
According to the data from U.S. Department of transportation, about 1.5 million drunk drivers are arrested every year. In response to an annual national survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice, in which the sample was offenders serving jail terms for various crimes committed; 36% of the offenders indicated that they committed their crimes under the influence of alcohol or drug (http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov). This percentage accounts for nearly one million of convictions carried out yearly. However, there are some variations in substance abuse among state and federal offenders.
A lot of people link drug abuse with crime, at times even with violent crime. This association comes from psychopharmacological association that imply that people may engage in criminal acts after taking some kind of substance known to undermine their judgment as well as self-control result in paranoid thoughts and distortion of inhibitions (Sewell, Poling and Sofuoglu, 189). Though all substances that affect the central nervous system might result in this kind of relationships, scientific information indicates that some type of drugs have a more strong effect than others. Such drugs are alcohol, cocaine, phencyclidine and amphetamines (McCauley, Ruggiero, Resnick and Kilpatrick, 136). Inversely, cannabis and heroin are less associated with desire to commit
Get Access