(Written by S.Kenny/A.McCabe/D.Phillips 2003; additional material/editing by S.Galvani 2005)

Alcohol, drugs and crime

Drugs
At one level the relationship between drug use and crime is an obvious one. The possession, supply, manufacture and preparation of certain drugs are prohibited under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The law includes penalties for offences committed under the Act (see Policy section of the website for relevant law).

However an aspect of the relationship between drug use and crime which is less clear is the question of whether drug use leads people into criminal activity or whether those who use drugs are already predisposed to such activity. It appears that in some cases drug use may be stimulated by involvement in criminal subcultures, while others suggest that criminal activities may arise from a need to ‘feed’ a drug habit or through the consequences of intoxication and a loosening of social inhibitions.

There is certainly much evidence within police statistics to support the idea that those with a drug use dependency are more likely to be arrested for acquisitive crime such as burglary or shop theft, or for robbery and handling stolen goods. There are also close links between drug use and women, men and children who are involved in, or exploited by, the sex ‘industry’, many of whom are caught up in the criminal justice system. However, there is evidence that drug use is both a pre-determining factor in such sexual exploitation and used as a means of coping with it.

Over the last decades politicians have been particularly keen to try to ascertain a more precise relationship based on ‘causality’, as there are clear implications for the development of policy and strategy. For instance, if one could prove that problematic drug users are led into criminal activity through ‘economic necessity’, the logical response might be to increase the legal prescribing of maintenance drugs. If, on the other hand, problematic drug users are drawn from a wider delinquent or criminal population, the answer would seem to be to address the causes of delinquency and criminality, on the basis that prevention or withdrawal from such behaviours and lifestyles would be likely to also result in a reduction or withdrawal from problematic drug use.

As Newburn (1998) has suggested this is problematic and caution is needed in trying to establish this kind of relationship. What is clear is that there are many drug users (including seriously problematic users) who do not engage in criminal activity beyond their use of illegal drugs. It is also clear that there are many people who develop criminal careers who do not have problems with drug use.

Despite the difficulty of ascertaining causality, research findings in relation to the drug misusing behaviours of young offenders do indicate that a higher proportion of young offenders use drugs than within the general population of young people (Howard and Zibert 1990, Inciardi and Pottinger 1991, Hagell and Newburn 1994, Audit Commission 1996).

Thus it has become increasingly clear that whether or not drug use leads to delinquent or criminal behaviours, a strong association of some kind is evident and that the criminal justice system is therefore an obvious site for drug intervention.

Alcohol
The link between alcohol and crime currently appears to be focussed on public disorder offences; in particular, the debate about links between alcohol and violent crime among the 18-24 age group. In a review of the literature on drinking and crime among this age group, Richardson et al. (2003: 1) found “frequency of drunkenness” was strongly linked to “general offending and criminal and disorderly behaviour during and after drinking”.

However, research shows there is no single direct causal link between alcohol and violent or abusive behaviours, rather it is a mixture of the setting or context, the individual’s beliefs and predisposition, and the effect of the substance.

One of the criticisms of the focus on illicit drug use in relation to crime has been the resultant lack of attention towards alcohol-related harms and offending. Evidence of alcohol use in offending has not been routinely or rigorously collected. However, since the publication of the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England (AHRSE) (Cabinet Office 2004), specific offending behaviours including drink-driving, domestic violence and violent and anti-social behaviour are singled out for greater attention and intervention. This would presuppose greater monitoring of alcohol’s involvement in these offences. Alcohol has also been implicated in a significant number of murders and criminal damage offences.

Importantly, alcohol consumption also increases the chance of someone being a victim of crime. For women this extends to being more vulnerable to men who rape and/or sexually assault.

Two factsheets summarising the relationship between alcohol and crime can be found on the Institute of Alcohol Studies website and the Alcohol Concern website.

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