It is an emerging school of thought that the violence and illegal activities can be directly linked to the use of intoxicating drugs. We have conducted a study on this topic and we came out with substantial evidences to prove this claim. A report dated April, 1994 with the title “Violence & Drug Related Crimes” published by the Drug and Crimes Data Center & Clearing house clearly shows that many criminals make use of drugs before committing crimes. A study made in 1991 shows that the following statistics regarding inmates of State prison who got involved in violence and other serious offences.
The reports clearly shows the influence and co relation between drugs and violence. The percentage below is the percentage of convicted criminals who have done the crime under the influence of drugs including alcohol. Violent Offenses: 28% , Homicide: 28% , Sexual Assault: 20%, Robbery: 38%, Assault 23% Further studies in the Source book of Criminal Justice Statistics published in1992 shows the break down of drugs use by criminals and offenders. These statistics reveals that, if we exclude robbery, an average of 75 – 90 percent of the usage of drugs accounts to alcohol and is not through illegal drugs as most people think.
As per the available information from the National Institute of Justice of the US Justice Department, there is a clear link between drug usage and violence. This can be demonstrated by the fact that out of the analyzed males who were arrested in 24 different US cities in the year 1991, the volume that proved to be positive in test results for at least a single drug was roughly around 36% in the city Omaha and it was about 75% in the city San Diego.
In the case of females who committed various crimes, the percent found to be positive for drug tests was approximately 46% in the city of SanAntonio where as it was 78% in Cleve land. This statistics is definitely an eye opener to prove the link between drug usage and violence. The study undertaken by The Bureau of Justice Statistics in May 1993 clearly shows that “Usage of various drugs were frequent among the residents at the time they committed burglary and other similar violent crimes.
Most of the convicted prisoners admitted to have administered drugs in the month prior to the act of crime and about 10% of the convicted criminals have revealed that they have done the crime under the influence of drugs. ” Another statistics indicated that among 19-48 year convicted males, who have administered drugs like cocaine, alcohol and cannabis in the past 1 year had 10 times higher probability to commit an act of violence than their non drug using counterparts.
In the journal named ‘Violent Crime in America’ published in 1993 by The International Association of Chiefs of Police, there is a report which emphasize that crime and drug usage both violent and nonviolent are mutually interrelated. National Crime Survey conducted in 1989 and in 1990 shows that more than over 2,020,000 criminal activities done by criminals are under the strong pressure of various drugs.
Works Cited Page
- Sourcebook on Criminal Justice Statistics, 1992, Table 6.54, page 603
- Drugs of abuse, 1989, G R Gay,
- Homicide in Chicago from 1890 to 1930: prohibition and its impact on alcohol- and non-alcohol-related homicides, Mark Asbridge, Swarna Weerasinghe
- http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/ACTIVIST/claim1.htm