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Does drug use cause crime or does crime cause drug use?

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CRIMINOLOGYDoes drug use cause crime, does crime cause drug use or is the relationship entirely co-incidental?INTRODUCTIONIn this paper I will look at the amount and type of crime caused by drugs, the relationship between drugs and crime and the relationship between alcohol and crime.

Crime is defined as:An act committed in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it and for which punishment is imposed upon convictionUnlawful activityA serious offence, especially in violation of moralityCauses of CrimeFirstly, let us explore crime and it's causes.

There are five main theories about what causes crime:1.The Classical TheoryCrime is caused by the individual's free will.

Human beings are rational and make decisions freely with …show more content…

So when we think of crime we think of the higher end, assaults and muggings where in fact most crime is for possession of cannabis.

Hard Drugs Causing CrimeA study in 1997 carried out by the Garda Research Unit in the Dublin Metropolitan Region found that out of 19,046 serious crimes 7,757 people were apprehended. Out of these, 3.356 were known to be users of hard drugs such as opiates, hypnotics, stimulants and hallucigens. The study came to the conclusion that these hard drug users were responsible for 665 of these crimes (Keogh 1997). It was also found that 51% of these had been involved in crime before using drugs and 48% had family members involved in crime.

1996 2001Crime as main source of income 59% 13%Unemployment rate among drug users 84% 55%Most common age of first taking drugs 15 years 15 yearsDrug first used " cannabis 51% 55%Drug first used " heroin 32% 27%First introduced to drugs by friend 81% 86%Estimated daily expenditure on drug eur51 eur75Percentage who sourced drugs from local drug dealer 46% 76%Crime came before drugs 51% 33%Drugs came before crime 30% 56%Drug use and crime started together 19% 11%Percentage who had been in prison 81% 66%Keogh, E. $1997% I!icit Drug use and Related Criminal Activity in the Dublin Metropolitan Area. Dublin: An Garda Siochana / Furey, M.

and Browne, C. $2003% Opiate Use and Related Criminal Activity in Ireland 2000 and 2001. Templemore: Garda Siochana Research Unit.

Two of the major studies on

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