Drugs and Crime: An Unavoidable Connection - Research Paper

Introduction

Drugs refer to substances that, when consumed, can cause a change in the organism's physiology or psychology (Buddy, 2). Drugs may also refer to natural or artificial made chemicals that are taken for various reasons such as pleasure, to improve people's performance, or even because people are addicts, and they cannot stop using the drugs (U.S. Department of Justice, 1). Crime, on the other hand, refers to actions or omissions that constitute offenses that are punishable by law. Drugs and crimes, in most cases, are intertwined because those using drugs are often found committing crimes so that they can get money to sustain their drug habits. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the effects of drugs on the increase in crime in America.

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The rate of crimes in America has been gradually increasing over the past number of years. The leading causes of crimes in America include peer influence, greed, jealousy, parental relations, revenge, hereditary causes, as well as drug abuse. All these reasons have contributed to the increase in crime in one way or another. Drugs and crime are related because of various reasons such as the fact that it is a crime itself to be found in possession of drugs such as cocaine, marijuana as well as heroin. People who also use drugs are related to other crimes such as drug trafficking as well as other things, such as causing violence (Rengert, 24). The U.S Bureau of Justice Statistics has provided data that has shown that a significant percentage of those involved in various crimes were under the influence of drugs. Those that committed crimes that included violence were 24.2%, rapes and sexual assaults consisted of 30%, robbery 23%, while those involved in the assault were 24%(U.S. Department of Justice, 1). To add on that those that were involved in aggravated and simple assaults were 26% and 23%, respectively (Buddy, 2). Most of the arrestees in America tested positive of drug substance abuse, and the percentage of arrestees found abusing drugs ranged from 62% to 83% in various cities such as Chicago and Atlanta (U.S. Department of Justice, 1).

Effect of Drugs in the Increase in Crime

Drugs have been seen to be the leading cause of the rise in crimes in America. Alcohol-related crashes have been seen to be on the increase daily, and many people die due to accidents that happen. As a result, people driving while on the influence of drugs. It was estimated that in 2018, every 48 minutes, one person died as a result of accidents that were caused due to drug-related accidents. These accidents mainly happen because people who are under the influence of drugs have impaired judgments, and their alcohol-impaired driving makes them crash because they make wrong decisions on different roads by not following road signs or even by over speeding. Aside from car accidents, other forms of accidents also happen in various industries due to drug abuse. People are seen to operate machines under an abuse of drugs, and this makes them make multiple mistakes when operating machines, and this makes them put other people in risk as well as causing accidents such as explosions.

Drug trafficking has, in most cases, been seen to promote or generate violent crimes. This is because those involved in violent crimes are seen to involve in bad habits that cause violence. This may be because they may use violence when they are demanding payments for the drugs from their customers as well as having disputes and rip-offs with the people that they are involved in the business with (Buddy, 2). Violence may also be brought about as the people that are in the drug business compete for customers and markets for their drugs. This makes them set standards that competitors should follow, and if they do not may lead them to be killed so that they may not destroy the future markets. It has also been seen that areas in drug zones are poor, and development rarely goes on because people fear being attacked by the drug lords or those in the drug business, and safety in these areas is always in question.

Drugs have also been seen to increase crimes such as the possession of illegal firearms. Most of the people involved in the drug business in America were seen to own lethal weapons such as guns and bombs that they use in case of attacks from their competitors. They also use these weapons when police are arresting them, and they fire at them as they try to run away (U.S. Department of Justice, 1). Possession of these deadly weapons has made the drug business more dangerous, and this has also increased crime as people can commit different crimes when they are angered by their customers or in case they want to revenge for past deals.

Drug trafficking has also increased crimes such as child abuse as well as child trafficking. This crime happens mostly because drug peddlers like to use children to transport their drugs as they cannot be suspected by the police (Rengert, 24). Children are also easy to threaten and control, and drug peddlers; therefore prefer to use children in this business. This is a crime because children involved in this business are denied the opportunity to go to school, and they are faced with various challenges such as hardships and brutal beatings.

In the USA, the areas where the drugs market proliferates, they tend to be disadvantaged economically as well as socially. The government laws on social controls in search areas tend to be ineffective since the individuals corporate in secret dealings (Johnson 13). The secret dealing is between the addicted members of the society as well as the sellers of the drugs. Crimes may arise when the laws enforcers try to identify both the users and the sellers of the drugs by the use of intelligence services. Several people will fall as the victims as the drug dealers try to eliminate the witnesses. For example, Joshua Brown the who was the slain Amber Guyger trial l witness, was killed due to the drug purchase deal gone wrong.

In the practice of illegal drug markets since the consumers tends to be the captives of the underground economy without the medical resource such as insurance services. For example, addicts who use hard drugs such as heroin cannot seek medical attention for the addiction due to the fear of consequential significant that can be proven in the hospital through a test. The addicts of drugs also face economic harm from the dealers of the drugs due to the high prices with the less alternative market, something that puts individuals in a high cost. The high cost of drugs will attract individuals to illegal practices such as stealing, corning people as well as killing others to get money for the drugs.

Individuals who participate in drugs are prone to using violence since the drugs alter the brain mechanism that may lead individuals into violent and aggressive behavior. The violence may be a result of the resources to purchase the drugs as well as the effect that may be created by the drugs to the individuals. Crimes may occur caused by addicted members in society. They try all means to eliminate any person that may hinder them from using the drug. The guiltiness of individuals may also fuel the crimes as a result of family rejection that makes them feel that they are not loved in society.

There are disputes and rip-offs among individuals involved in the illegal drug market that leads to committing crimes due to the conflicts of interest. Prices of drugs vary in some cases whereby the sellers identify their potential customers who will later supply the drugs to the other members due to intermediary formation. Prices will rise for the drugs, and conflicts arise as the individuals try to find for the new drug sellers. In order for both them to survive in the same market, some individuals must be eliminated through killings for the market to be secured, something that has been continually increasing crimes in the united states of America.

Drug use has also increased the practice of shoplifting crimes among the addicts of drugs. Individuals practice shoplifting practices to save money for drugs. Others may find themselves in the act due to a lack of finance to buy food since all the payment has been used in drugs. After shoplifting practices, individuals will find themselves finally in the hands of the law. After imprisonment, drugs addict will find it hard to recover again from the effects of the drugs extending something that may affect their lives, which will finally result in serious crimes such as killing others by the use of Benzodiazepine as well as practicing robbery.

Drugs have been experienced has the leading cause of sexual assault crimes. Drugs influence people to participate in dehumanizing activities such as rape due to the influence of the drug, which is characterized by the practice of using force by individuals to satisfy their sexual desires (Salomone 451). Through sexual assault, there is widespread of diseases among the people involving both the adults and juvenile members in the society. Sexual assault crimes such as rape will lead individuals to life imprisonment according to the IUSA laws on sexual assault. Revenge crimes also have been experienced whereby the member of the drug gang try to threaten the members that have led their members to be in police cells due to unhealthy practices in the society such as rape.

The discussion also covers the effects of drugs on social laws as well as the legal laws of the USA by making them ineffective. In the part of the economy, the discussion as identified the underground economy that has been applied by the drug dealers, which is against the laws of the AUSA. Violence is something that is not far from drug use, something that has been experienced in the past years among the individuals who practice on drugs. Other crimes that have been experienced as the effect of medications used are shoplifting issues as well as sexual harassment crimes, something that has; led several drug users to rot in the jail to serve justice to the victims of sexual assault.

Work Cited

Buddy T. "Why Alcohol and Drugs Are Factors in a Large Percentage of Crimes." Verywell Mind, 20 Nov. 2003, www.verywellmind.com/crime-and-alcohol-statistics-from-1998-62821.

Johnson, Kevin R. "It's the Economy, Stupid: The Hijacking of the Debate over Immigration Reform by Monsters, Ghosts, and Goblins (or the War on Drugs, War on Terror, Narcoterrorists, Etc.)." Chap. L. Rev. 13 (2009): 583.

Rengert, George F. The geography of illegal drugs. Routledge, 2018.

Salomone, Alberto, et al. "Hair analysis of drugs involved in drug-facilitated sexual assault and detection of zolpidem in a suspected case." International journal of legal medicine 126.3 (2012): 451-459.

U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/DRRC.PDF.