Drugs

Illicit Drug Issues History and “Drug Panics” Current Use / Trends Relationship Between Drug use and

Crime Drug Control Strategy The Legalization Debate Theories of Drug Use

What is a “drug?” A “psychoactive drug” is one that alters

mood, emotion, perception, or other mental states By that definition: alcohol, caffeine and

nicotine count Also included are Prozac, Ritalin, Vicodin

Throw in the “illicit” drugs… Americans are some fairly serious

druggies

A Long History of Substance Use The use of chemical substances to “get

high” dates back to ancient times Mesopotamian writings (4,000 years ago)

identify opium as the “plant of joy” Primitive people during the stone age drank

alcohol South American Indians chewed coca leaves

since before the time of the Incas Until recently, most drugs legal

Winston Churchill (1912) used a “cocaine solution”; common “cure all” drugs were opium-based

Morphine teething drops, cocaine solutions and so forth from 1800s

Criminalization of DrugsLate 1800s in U.S.

“Moral Crusaders,” especially religious Medical field began to suggest

morphine and opiates were “habit-forming” and constituted a “disease”

The “temperance movement”Drug Laws

1906 Pure Food and Drug Act 1914 Harrison Narcotics Act 1937 Marijuana Taxation Act

Drug Panics/Scares Often precede new criminalization or

heightened penalties Worst-case scenario “typical”

Meth-mouth, crack babies… Media sensationalism and hyperbole

Epidemic, most addictive drug ever, causes other bad things…

Drugs and “Dangerous” Folks Often times, the criminalization

had more to do with other concerns (fear of losing jobs to cheap labor, racism) Marijuana Mexicans, Black Jazz

Musicians, etc. Opium—Chinese railroad workers Crack—inner city blacks

Synthetics as the latest panic?Jim Carlson vs. the albino character from “The Princess Bride”

+ =?

Media example of “Drug Panic” propaganda

Harry Anslinger and the Reefer Madness era

What to watch in the film Who are the “dangerous” folks using? Exaggeration/hyperbole?

“Facts” about the drug, damage it causes, addictiveness…

AGENDA FOR TODAY WATCH PBS FRONTLINE ON METH DO GROUP EXERCISE GO OVER GROUP EXERCISE LECTURE

Drug Use / Trends Sources:

National Survey on Drug Use and Health Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Services Administration Nationally representative household based

(12+ yrs) Monitoring the Future Survey

High School based (8-12th grade) Limitations of sources?

SAMHSA DATALifetime(2009)

Past Year

(2009)

Past Month(2009)

Marijuana and Hashish 41.5 11.3 6.6

Cocaine 14.5 1.9 0.7

Crack 3.3 0.4 0.2

Heroin 1.5 0.2 0.1

Hallucinogens 14.8 1.8 0.5

LSD 9.4 0.3 0.1

Ecstasy 5.7 1.1 0.3

Pain Relievers 13.9 4.9 2.1

Methamphetamine 5.1 0.5 0.2

PE

RC

EN

T

Use

% who used in last 12 months

100

8th G rade 10th G rade

80 12th G rade

60

40

20

0

'74 '76 '78 '80 '82 '84 '86 '88 '90 '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10

YE A R

Illicit Drug use and other Crime Strong correlation (.5-.7) between

regular drug use and crime Offenders with substance abuse

problems commit a high percent of some crimes

75% of robberies in one study Two-thirds of those jailed test positive

for illicit drugs

Relationships Between Drugs and Crime Drug-defined offenses

Possession and Sales Drug-related offenses

Drug induced rage assault Robbery to feed drug habit

Drug-using lifestyle Crimes relevant to “lifestyle” Not cause-effect

The “Gateway” issue Is weed a “gateway” drug for harder drugs? Is cigarette smoking a gateway to weed? Gateway implies causality

The use of some drug (nicotine, weed) causes use of harder drugs independent of other factors such as peer group, low self-control, lifestyle…

Is it really the weed that causes people to try crack cocaine or heroin? Danger of “DARE” sorts of messages

Drug Control Strategies “War on Drugs” = $600 Billion over

past 25 years Source Control Interdiction Punishment (Deterrence) Drug Testing • Different Approaches Drug Education (non-D.A.R.E.) Drug Treatment (California’s Prop 36) Public Health-Harm Reduction Models

Drug Legalization? Pro?

Reduce crime by eliminating “drug-defined crimes” Reduce Prison Costs

Reduce violence generated by black market Reduce police corruption (?)

Con? Increased drug use and social costs Moral costs

Practical Problems with Legalization Which drugs? Who sells? Minors?

Drug Treatment As with criminal rehabilitation programs,

cognitive behavioral programs have a track record of success Cognitive = skill and restructuring

The effect of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous is largely unkown

Very resistant to academic research

Drug Courts Started in 1989 in Dade County Florida

as a reaction to crowded jails/court dockets Spread like wildfire thereafter

Key ingredients Team approach Judicial involvement in supervision (court

reviews) Strong treatment component Quick processing

Drug Court II Most research has been favorable

Reductions in drug use and other criminal activity

South St. Louis County (Duluth) MN drug court Reviewed by one of the best bow hunting

criminologists in the country Significant reductions in felony offending vs. a

comparison group of people arrested for drug felonies prior to the existence of drug court

Theories of Drug Use?Most theories of crime can also

explain drug use social learning, social control,

strain, developmental…

UMD: Percent Reporting Nonmedical Drug Use, by Type of Drug, Past 12 Months

Predicting Use

VariableD.V.: Stimulant Use, Past 12

Months b SE

Odds Ratio Low self-control .044* .018 1.045 Deviant peers .032 .026 1.032 Moral beliefs -.069* .028 .933 Typical offending .001 .040 1.001 School attachment .003 .036 1.003 Grade point average -.584* .241 .558 Involvement in co-curricular activities

.081 .071 1.085

Importance of academic work .375† .204 1.455 Racial and/or ethnic minority -.485 .389 .616 Male -.134 .243 .874 21 years or older -.120 .233 .886 Binge drinking: 1-2 times †† 1.326** .405 3.767 Binge drinking: 3-5 times†† 1.609*** .405 4.999 Binge drinking: 6+ times†† 1.881*** .456 6.560Constant -2.338 1.965 .097***p < .001; **p < .01; *p < .05; †p < .10; †† Reference category for this variable is “none”

Regression Results

IndependentVariable

Dependent Variable

Prescription Stimulants

b(SE)

[Odds Ratio]

Marijuanab

(SE)[Odds Ratio]

Other Prescription

Drugsb

(SE)[Odds Ratio]

Other Illicit Drugs

b(SE)

[Odds Ratio]

Low self-control .044**(.018)

[1.045]

.043***(.016)

[1.044]

.056***(.019)[1.058]

Moral beliefs -.069**(.028)[.933]

-.089***(.027)[.915]

-.105***(.036)[.901]

Deviant Peers .049*(.028)[1.051]

Grade point average

-.584**(.241).558]

-.471**(.222).[625]

Importance of academic work

.375*(.204)

[1.455]

***p < .01; **p < .05; *p < .10