Drug Crimes in America

Drug crimes are among the most pervasive and costly types of crime in the United States. In US federal prisons, 46.2% of inmates are serving time for drug offenses (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2018). In state prisons, the number is much lower, but still very high at 15.7%. (Carson & Anderson, 2016). These numbers, alone, do not tell the whole story since many other types of crimes are committed by individuals under the influence of drugs or seeking money to buy drugs. A report compiled from data collected from inmates through The National Drug Intelligence Center survey found that drug influence or seeking money for drugs was present in a wide variety of crimes for which inmates were serving sentences: 39.1% of larceny, 33.6% of burglary, 28.0% of robbery, 7.2% of homicide, and 3.7% of sexual assault (Caulkins & Kleiman 2014).

           Fatal drug overdose has become the leading form of injury related death in the United States (DEA Strategic Intelligence Section, 2015). At the same time, illicit drug distribution is rife with violence. Drug dealers victimize other drug dealers in response to disputes over exclusive proprietary rights, commonly referred to as “turf” and retaliate with violence (Jacques, & Allen, 2014). Both drug abuse and the drug trade come at a huge social and economic cost to law enforcement, taxpayers and society as a whole and have a negative effect on a wide range of societal functions (UNODC, 1994).

           The primary motivation for drug dealers is profit. Although street level drug dealers often make only a modest income, it tends to be higher than what they could expect to make in the legitimate labor market, in relation to their education and work experience (Levitt & Venkatesh, 2000). Street level drug dealers enter the occupation for a variety of reasons. One factor is the ease of access to the drug market. This is particularly true for drug dealers who grew up in an environment where illegal drug sales occurred (Daniels, 2012). Another reason for becoming a drug dealer is normality of exposure (Daniels, 2012); dealing drugs is perceived as a regular aspect of life with little or no stigma, the same way that a legitimate job would be. The normality comes from seeing family and friends selling drugs (Daniels, 2012). Additionally, potential drug dealers perceive others who are engaged in the occupation as having relative financial success (Daniels, 2012).

           Drug users have other motivations. Heroin users, for example sometimes become addicted to chronic pain medications and eventually switch to heroin because it is less costly and easy to access (DEA Strategic Intelligence Section, 2015). Other drugs, such as cocaine are taken by drug users because they simply want to feel better, keep going or increase confidence (Boys, Marsden & Strang, 2001). Illicit drug use, in general, can begin with experimentation. Young people begin experimenting with drugs when drugs are accessible and drug use is normalized by peers, family members, media or the internet (Cohen, 2014). Drug use leads to drug addiction. Drug addiction can be a compulsion which outweighs a user’s natural decision making process (Verdejo-Garcia, Perez-Garcia & Bechara, 2006).

           Substantial efforts have been made, in The United States, over the past decades, to respond to drug crimes. In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a “War on Drugs”. This took the form of increasing drug enforcement efforts and passing mandatory minimum sentence regulations (Drug Policy Alliance, 2018). In the 1980’s, President Ronald Regan expanded the policies of President Nixon. Additionally, First Lady Nancy Regan launched the “Just Say No” public education campaign, which sought to teach youth and families about the dangers of illegal drugs (History.com, 2017). During the same time period, the United States took efforts to curb large scale illegal drug trafficking. In 1989, the United States invaded Panama and captured the county’s leader, Manuel Noriega. President George Bush justified the attack by saying, “Noriega was a drug dealer who had declared war on the United States, threatened the lives of Americans living in Panama and now threatened the security of the Panama Canal.” (Eisner, 2017).

In recent years, some policies have softened. Most states have passed “Good Samaritan Laws” which immune 911 reporters of drug overdoses from criminal prosecution (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2018). Multiple jurisdictions, within the United States, have legalized or decriminalized marijuana (Delkic, 2017). Drug treatment programs have become more assessable (Seelye & Goodnough, 2017). In spite of these changes, the United States still has an extraordinarily high incarceration rate of drug offenders and the highest overall incarceration rate in the world (Roeder, 2015). In the meantime, the drug problem has worsened (Rudd, Aleshire, Zibbell & Gladden, 2016).

The classical perspective states that people act out of free will and make a rational choice about committing crime. People act in an effort to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. In order to have an appropriate deterrent effect, punishment must be swift, certain and proportionately severe (Williams & McShane, 2018). This theory cannot be applied very well to illicit drug use. Beyond initial experimentation, addicted drug users show exceptionally poor decision making and the compulsion to continue to feed their addictions outweighs rational decision making (Verdejo-Garcia, Perez-Garcia & Bechara, 2006). This means that, drug users will take on almost any risk in order to satisfy their desire for more drugs. Applying increased enforcement or harsher sentences will, therefore not lead to a reduction in use beyond the periods of time that users are incarcerated and no longer have access to illegal drugs.

A classical approach may, however have an effect on drug dealers. Although, it probably will not do so, in the way it is currently applied. Policies designed to deter drug dealers have historically focused on increasing enforcement and punishment (Drug Policy Alliance, 2018). The idea, in relation to the classical perspective, is to increase the pain in order to offset the pleasure gained by the money made from dealing drugs. This has not been successful. In spite of enhanced enforcement and lengthy sentences, drug arrests are on the rise in The United States (Angell, 2017). An alternative application to the classical perspective would be to reduce the pleasure from dealing drugs; this means reducing the financial reward. The best way to reduce the financial reward would be to legalize and regulate the sale of all drugs. If drug users could buy drugs legally from stores, and at a lower price than from street drug dealers, they would do so. While this does not address issues of addiction or health, this could have an enormous effect on street violence and turf disputes associated with illegal drug dealing. 

Another approach to explaining and addressing drug crimes is differential association. The theory of differential association teaches that criminal behavior is learned in the same way that non-criminal behavior is learned. People learn criminal behavior in social setting and the strongest learning effect comes from the people who are the closest such as family or close friends. People’s values are shaped and influenced by the people with whom they associate. When people have close connections with others who have pro-criminal attitudes and values and when those close connections actually commit criminal acts, people tend to adopt those values and participate in criminal acts themselves (Williams & McShane, 2018).

Differential association does a lot to help explain drug dealers and early stages of drug use. Many street level drug dealers grow up in families and neighborhoods with strong pro-criminal attitudes and values (Daniels, 2012). They are often exposed to drug dealing at a young age and the behavior is normalized (Daniels, 2012). Dealing drugs is valued, by those people, as a legitimate alternative to traditional employment. According to a study published in 2012 in The European Journal of Criminology, differential association plays a role in illicit drug use as well, but perhaps a more limited one. Drug users tend to have close connections with other drug users. These connections, however, sometimes have more to do with drug users selecting friends who have favorable attitudes towards drug use rather than by being influenced into using drugs by existing friends. So the impact of differential association limited (Rebellon, 2012).

There are a number of programs in place which seek to provide positive role models for at risk populations. One example of these programs is the Big Brother / Big Sister mentoring program (Williams & McShane, 2018). A study published in 2013 in The Journal of Experimental Criminology found that mentoring programs are quite successful at reducing illegal behavior. Mentoring was found to be most effective when advocacy and emotional support were included in the program (Tolan, Henry, Schoeny, Lovegrove, & Nichols, 2013). With these findings in mind, increasing funding for this type of program and expanding program availability would be much more effective at reducing drug crimes than expanded enforcement and longer sentences.

Anomie theory can also be used to help explain drug crimes. Anomie theory states that most members of society share similar values. There are common goals among societal members and there are acceptable ways to achieve those goals. Goals are things like money, power, pleasure, entertainment and relaxation. Acceptable ways to achieve the goals are things like hard work, education, putting effort into relationships, exercise and financial planning. Some societies put a great deal of value on the goals, and not everyone in the society has the same access to the acceptable means to achieve the goals. People resolve this conflict through various modes of adaptation. Modes of adaption can include a rejection of the acceptable ways to achieve goals, a rejection of the goals or a combination of both (Williams & McShane, 2018).

Street level drug dealers often come from lower income neighborhoods where access to education and gainful employment is limited (McLaughlin, 2011). Dealing drugs is seen as a relatively easy and accessible occupation (Daniels, 2012). Also, it takes little or no formal training. Beyond just coming from a poor neighborhood, drug dealers face additional barriers to acceptable means for achieving societal goals. Once a person has a criminal record, it can be substantially more difficult to enter the legitimate work force. Many employers are unwilling to hire a person with a criminal record (Tahmincioglu, 2010). Continuing to deal drugs is perceived a simpler alternative than applying for job after job with little chance of actually being hired.

Anomie theory can also help explain some of the behavior of illegal drug users. Like everyone else, drug users want to feel good. For most people, feeling good means exercising, eating right, maintaining fulfilling relationships and pursing interests and hobbies. For someone addicted to drugs, feeling good is achieved by feeding the addiction. Even when a drug user breaks from physical addiction due to rehab or incarceration, relapse is common. Drug users released from an institutional setting often return to poor social support, financial difficulties and drug prone neighborhoods (Binswanger et al, 2012). Drug abuse and addiction also has a damaging effect on family relationships (Patterson, 2016). With all these challenges, it can be easier for a former drug user to turn back to drugs rather than suffering through the difficulties of trying to feel good in more acceptable ways.

Based on anomie theory, drug crime can be reduced by providing more opportunities and social support for the poor, the addicted and those with criminal records. There are a multitude of re-entry programs currently available with varying success rates. A study published in 2014 in The Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology suggests that the success of these programs could be improved by expanding to offer a more individual approach and moving beyond basic needs such as housing and employment (Denney, Tewksbury & Jones, 2014). Expanding programs and offering more individualized care would inevitably be very expensive but probably less expensive than long term incarceration with high recidivism.   

           One last theory that can be used to explain drug crimes is conflict theory. Conflict theory characterizes societal conflict as a as a fact of life and a reality in societies. Different groups want to control limited resources which creates conflict. The group that controls the most resources is powerful and wants to maintain that power by expanding control at the expense of other groups and remaining in control. Laws are used to exert control over the less dominant groups. Laws are created based on the values of the dominant group and are enforced with an effect of criminalizing less dominate groups (Williams & McShane, 2018). The characteristics of conflict theory mirror the history and application of many governmental anti-drug laws and tactics. The first American anti-drug law was passed in California in 1875. It outlawed smoking opium which was popular among Chinese immigrants. There was popular concern that opium was causing white women to have sex with Asian men (Block, 2013). Cocaine was made illegal in 1914 out of fear that it would give black men super human strength and cause them to attack white men and rape white women (Hill, 2017). In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” (Drug Policy Alliance, 2018). In a 1994 interview, one of Richard Nixon’s top advisors, John Ehrlichman explained President Nixon’s motivations the declaration:

The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did. (Baum, 2016).

Today, Hispanics and African Americans are disproportionately represented among federal inmates incarcerated for drug offenses and account for more than 75% of those inmates (Taxy, Samuels & Adams, 2015). Enforcement efforts target poor and minority populations. Even though both black and white people use marijuana at a similar rate, African Americans are 3.73 times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana (ACLU, 2018).

           The conflict theory explanation calls for a dramatic shift in the way that drug laws are made and enforced. Current drug policy perpetuates societal inequalities and disenfranchises large segments of the population. This breeds hate, anger and unrest. Worse, in light of recent drug trends, it appears to do so without making any notable advances in curbing overall drug use.

           What can be derived from all these theories in that drug crime is perhaps best addressed by not treating it as a crime at all. This is certainly not an argument claiming that most illicit drug use safe, healthy or good. After all even marijuana, when heavily used, is linked to lower ambition, motivation and productivity (Bergland, 2013). However, the damage being done by enforcement efforts and criminalization only serves to add to the damage being done by drug dealing and drug use rather than subtracting from it. Laws should be adjusted to entirely take away the criminal element from drug dealing and drug use. This would free up funding for programs that provide vocational skills, mentorship, education, treatment and social services. None of this would completely stop illicit drug use, but it may help reduce some of the worse elements.

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