What do you know about drugs and crime
What do you know about drugs and crime: Are they linked in any way?
What do you know about drugs and crime? Many people are familiar with these yet they don’t understand the impact they have in life. It is therefore necessary that you seek help from the various support groups to get the insight for proper action plan about elimination of substance abuse.
When this question is posed to us we quickly often think of the links between drugs and crime and we don’t hesitate to think about the dependent users of hard drugs like heroin and crack cocaine among other drugs of the same standard. And at the same time in most cases we often don’t consider how and who commit other crimes and particularly those who commit crimes like theft, burglary, fraud and shoplifting specifically to get money for the purchase of their supplies (drugs). It is therefore because of this that we want to seek answers from the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center so that we can make very informed decisions whenever we chose to take action. According to the experts at this facility headed by doctor Dalal Akoury (MD) and also the founder of the same, drugs and crime are also closely associated with a number of other ways including the following:
Every time one is talking about drugs, it will not go unnoticed that reference is made about people who use or supply illegal drugs rubbing shoulders with the local authorities and this is very evident in the number of people who are being convicted of various drug offenses.
People who commit violent offenses while under the influence of drugs, with alcohol being the greatest casualty among other substances. From a professional point of view doctor Akoury states that besides all these, drunkenness is closely associated with a majority of crimes including murders, manslaughters and stabbings and half of domestic assaults. When users are under the influence of their substances, they become object of the substances they have used and while in that state of mind, they often do very stupid mistakes that they themselves live to regret when they become sober latter.
Alcohol and drug related to driving offenses. If you take a keen look at the statistics of both major and minor accidents that take place on our roads, you will be shocked to notice that nearly all of them are as a result of drunkenness. In India and most states in Africa where the use of motor bike for public transport is on the rise, many hospital institutions have specifically created special ward facility for motor bike associated accidents, and the common denominator about these accidents is that either the rider or their passenger was drunk at the time of the accident.
Another area of concern is the effect of alcohol to its users more so the gang of robbers or just ordinary individuals. Doctor Akoury has observed that in many cases when violence erupts between parties, in the middle of that violence you will not miss people who are seriously intoxicated with drugs and alcohol. Take for example violence involving drug dealers who may clash with rival gangs over unsettles financial deals or being violent towards drug users (their clients) who owe them money.
Some research studies have found that a lot of acquisitive crime (stealing) is committed by dependent users of heroin and crack cocaine trying to pay for their drugs. Some show a high proportion of people arrested for a range of offenses testing positive for drug use. To this effect the available statistic appears to suggest that one third to over a half of all acquisitive crime is either directly or indirectly related to illegal drug use.
What do you know about drugs and crime: Cost of drug related crime?
It will surprise you to note that people spend heavily to finance their illicit habits and in many cases they do so at the expense of very important family and domestic issues. Like for example, we have users who will be looking towards spending between £20,000 and £50,000 a year to fund their drug habits. This is not small amount of money and the matter becomes even complicated if the user will be raising these funds through other illicit activities like theft and mugging. If this is the case, then we may want to triple the figures because in many cases stolen commodities will often be disposed cheaply and the proceeds are likely to be about one third of the normal market value of the said commodity.
Doctor Akoury estimates that currently there are on average around 9milion heroin and crack users in the US alone, and out of this two thirds of them are enrolled for treatment in any year. From that statistic we can confidently say that is a lot of theft, burglary, fraud or shoplifting if all are stealing to pay for their habits. It is no wonder some studies have suggested that up to half of all acquisitive crime we experience today is drug-related and that the market value of goods stolen involved could be in the tune of billions of dollars annually.
Doctor Akoury says that professionally this can all seem very frightening and has often been sensationalized in the media. However, careful consideration must be taken because the picture given may be exaggerated for a number of reasons and the following could be some of the reasons for exaggeration:
- Many people who are dependent on drugs like heroin and crack cocaine were involved in criminal activity before becoming dependent on drugs, so the drug use may not be the cause of the crime.
- Poverty, unemployment and social exclusion are often underlying factors rather than the drug use itself.
- Many people commit crimes in order to feed, clothe and house themselves and their families.
- Some users have jobs, benefits or other forms of income that are used to purchase drugs.
- Many users do not use large amounts of street drugs all the time. Dosage and frequency of use may go up or down and they may also have access to other substitute drugs, such as heroin users being prescribed methadone.
- Most people who use illegal drugs (the majority are non-problematic users) do not commit crimes to get money to pay for the drugs.
Finally the fact that acquisitive crime is focused on poorer, inner city areas makes for a lot of stress and difficulty for people who live there. However, understanding the relationship between drugs and crime is about keeping matters in perspective rather than falling for media scare stories. But most importantly is that if you are struggling with any kind of addiction, you need to seek for help immediately and if you are wondering from where to start, you are at the right place for your healthy destiny. All you need to do is to call doctor Dalal Akoury today for help. You can schedule for an appointment with her today for the commencement of your recovery journey today.
What do you know about drugs and crime: Are they linked in any way?
