Drug Abuse and Crime 1

Ashley Hudgens

7/9/2022

Research Paper: Drug Abuse and Crime

Addiction Counseling

Wake Forest University

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I have chosen drug abuse and crime for the topic of this research paper. It is no secret that

there has been a known correlation between drug abuse and crime rates within the United States.

The war on drugs has been around since the 1970s and has been a main focus for the government

and law enforcement. People can easily find themselves addicted to drugs and then be willing to

do whatever they need to in order to continue getting the drugs, even if it is committing crimes.

Unfortunately, drugs such as opiates or even alcohol can cause severe impairment to an

individual's ability to logically think and can lead to people acting in a way that they normally

would not. It is clear that the population that struggles with addiction need more help than they

are getting and I fully believe that our society should turn to more preventative and rehabilitative

methods than essentially locking these individuals away and “throwing away the key”.

An article by Koetzle (2014) took a closer look at substance use and crime and the issues

that exist with substance users not getting the support and help they clearly need. Research

shows that offenders who were found using drugs account for almost “20% of state prison

inmates, almost half of federal inmates, and a quarter of those on probation”. An even further

look within the same article highlights the national estimates of substance users and crime that

shows a substantial portion of offenders are rearrested within 3 years of their release from prison.

This research only further points to the need for changes in the prison community and how drug

offenders are perceived within society.

When substance abuse users are thought of, it can be easy to think about those in prisons,

poor communities, or those who live on the streets. However, drugs do not discriminate and

anyone can find themselves susceptible to having a substance abuse problem, including college

students. Alcohol use among college students is known to be prevalent and not a surprise. An

article that came out in 2018, written by Bennett and Holloway, took a look at the “prevalence of
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drug and alcohol-related crime among university students in seven universities in the United

Kingdom”. The research looked at collected data that gauged any differences between substance

users who committed crimes and those who did not offend. Almost 8,000 students were provided

a questionnaire on their use of alcohol and illegal substances to get a better understanding of how

many of those have committed crimes. The results of the study conducted revealed that 10% of

students who took the questionnaire had committed crimes related to their substance use.

Around the same percentage of students who used alcohol had also committed crimes within an

academic year.

Bennet and Holloway’s 2018 article findings also concluded that most of the crime that

was committed by university students who were under the influence of alcohol or other illicit

drugs included fighting, driving while under the influence, and property damage. It is important

to continue research like this in order to show that substance misuse is an issue among many

populations and can be found to contribute to the rate at which crime occurs. Their findings also

show that substance abuse has not only been found to be an issue among college students but that

the United States is not the only country with a drug and crime issue.

Another study that was published by Hayhurst et al., in 2017, took a look at opiate use

and the rate at which people offend. It was noted at the time that research looking into crime

rates and substance use was not where it needed to be and that more research could be done in

the future. This particular review took data from both the United Kingdom and the United States

and used several databases, online sources, bibliographies, and citation mapping to complete

their review. The review began by discussing drug policies over the years and noted that policies

have been influenced by the assumption that there is a strong link between drugs and crime.

Another piece of information that was mentioned that factors into the results of the study
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reviewed is that substance users may be more likely to be caught than non-users, and offending

rates can be atypical in the time leading up to arrest, incarceration, or treatment. Due to these

factors, substance users who are caught committing a crime may not be an accurate indicator of

the larger drug-using population.

Several trends were highlighted in this review such as males being more likely than

females to be offenders and drug users and males tend to start at an earlier age. The research

included in this review also points out that crime tends to proceed opiate use in males, although

that is not always the case. A major conclusion that came from the review was that evidence

shows the odds of an individual offending are six times higher for crack users and three times

higher for heroin users than non-heroin and crack users. The information that is available

indicates that beginning opiate usage speeds up pre-existing offenses, especially theft but that

much of the evidence that is available is outdated (Hayhurst et al., 2017). After reading this

review and the studies included, it is clear that the research is mixed, and more needs to be done

to have a better understanding of how drug use and crime are correlated.

All three articles do have similarities between them but also some differences. The first

one did not have any quantitative data that it presented but all three highlight the potential

dangers of substance use and how it can lead to increased crime rates. One fact that all three

articles had as well was that men seem to have a higher chance of having a substance abuse

problem and getting caught committing crimes than women do. Some differences include that

the first one points out the dire need for reform with not only the prison system but also how we

treat people with substance abuse problems. More rehabilitation and resources are needed to help

those struggling with substance abuse and even committing crimes. The third article called

attention to the fact that more research is needed in this area to gain a better understanding of
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drug use and crime rates whereas the second article was all about substance use and crimes

among college age individuals.

A major limitation in research was discussed in the 2017 article published by Hayhurst et

al., which spoke about the need for more research in the areas of drug use and crime. Although

there seems to be a causal link between the two, and many drug policies are written around the

idea that there is a causal link between the two, there are reviews of research that state that more

is needed to come to a more solid conclusion. The main question that is asked in the review is if

drug use proceeds crime or vice versa. Available research has also shown that there are many

individuals who abuse substances but do not commit crimes.

Another article by Håkansson and Jesionowska (2018) also discussed the link between

substance use patterns and crime rates among prisoners. The limitations they found after

completing their study were revealed in the conclusions. Self-reported and cross-sectional data,

as well as the fact that men make up a sizable portion of the jail population examined here, were

the study's limitations. A main limitation that has been noticed with all of these studies is the fact

that the majority of the data gathered were from men. Although men seem to be more likely to

commit crimes while using drugs, there should be more studies done on women and their rate of

drug use and committing crimes.

The limitations that the articles brought up are also ideas of where future research can go

for this topic. More research can be done showing if crime mainly comes before a substance

abuse problem or if substance use usually comes before crime. As I mentioned earlier, there

should be more studies done on women and their rate of drug use and committing crimes as most

of the research has looked at men. Although it is clear that research is available, there is room for
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growth and knowledge in this area and more research is needed in general to gain a better picture

of how substance use and crime actually correlate with one another.

Drug abuse and crime can certainly have implications for me as a counselor, and really

all counselors. It can be a challenge to work with the unique clients that need support, and clients

who have substance abuse problems are one of those challenging populations. One challenge can

come from clients who are reluctant to work towards getting help, or even that they have a

problem to begin with. There would be a good chance that a client who has a substance abuse

problem and has committed a crime, could be involuntarily attending counseling which would

increase the resistance to be in counseling. This is why building rapport is so important as it

creates a safe space for people, even if they do not want to be there so they feel they could

eventually trust the counselor and open up.

Counselors must also be able to put their personal biases aside, and provide a non-

judgmental space for a client. A person will never feel they can open up or work towards

understanding they may need help, if they first cannot trust the counselor and the counseling

process. A counselor must be sure to respect the opinions, cultural customs, and religious

convictions of clients. A counselor may find that they have limited confidentiality with a client

who is going through the court system to receive counseling and may also have limited time to

help the client. Above all, a counselor must be sure they are the best person to help the client

who needs to recover from substance abuse and why the client has struggled with such a problem

in the first place.

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References

Bennett, T., & Holloway, K. (2018). Drug and alcohol-related crime among university

students. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology,

62(14), 4489–4509. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624x18769601

Håkansson, A., & Jesionowska, V. (2018). Associations between substance use and type of

crime in prisoners with substance use problems - a focus on violence and fatal

violence. Substance abuse and rehabilitation, 9, 1–9.

https://doi.org/10.2147/SAR.S143251

Hayhurst , K., Pierce, M., Hickman , M., Seddon, T., Dunn, G., Keane, J., & Millar, T.

(2017). Pathways through opiate use and offending: A systematic review.

International Journal of Drug Policy, 39, 1–13. Retrieved from https://www-

sciencedirect-com.wake.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0955395916302821?via

%3Dihub.

Koetzle, D. (2014). Substance use and crime. International Journal of Offender Therapy

and Comparative Criminology, 58(6), 635–637.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624x14533110