Two interesting things in that report - they conclude that drug users are more likely to commit crimes without weighing the equal statistical possibility that people inclined to crime in general are also the types who will use drugs, because drugs are part of the same illegal culture they thrive in.
Second, here is the price we pay for keeping the drug trade illegal:
Drugs Generate Violent Crime
Trafficking in illicit drugs tends to be associated with the commission of violent crimes. Reasons for the relationship between drug trafficking and violence include the following:
* Competition for drug markets and customers.
* Disputes and rip-offs among individuals involved in the illegal drug market.
* The tendency toward violence of individuals who participate in drug trafficking.
In addition, locations in which street drug markets proliferate tend to be disadvantaged economically and socially; legal and social controls against violence in such areas tend to be ineffective. The proliferation of lethal weapons in recent years has also made drug violence more deadly.
Table 4. Drug-related homicides, 1991–1998
Year Number of homicides Percentage drug-related*
1991 21,676 6.2%
1992 22,716 5.7
1993 23,180 5.5
1994 22,084 5.6
1995 20,232 5.0
1996 15,848 4.9
1997 15,289 5.1
1998 14,088 4.8
* Drug-related homicides are those murders that occurred specifically during a narcotics felony, such as drug trafficking or manufacturing.
Source: Table constructed by ONDCP Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse staff from the FBI's Crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports, 1991–1998.
Although the number of drug-related homicides has been decreasing in recent years, drugs still remain one of the main factors leading to the total number of all homicides (see Table 4). According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) Crime in the United States: Uniform Crime Reports, the number of homicides that occurred in 1994 during a narcotic drug law violation (such as drug trafficking or possession) or because of brawls influenced by narcotics totaled 1,450, whereas in 1998 this number was reduced to 795. Despite this decrease, murders related to narcotics still rank as the fourth most documented murder circumstance out of 24 possible categories. |
