Drug-Related Crime
Trevor Bennett
University of Glamorgan
1
Definition
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What is ‘drug-related crime’?
2
Definition
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The term was first introduced in a government
policy document in 1994 and was defined as...
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“…not only the offence of supply and possession of
illegal drugs but also other criminal activity directly or
indirectly associated with drug misuse”
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Home Office (1994) Tackling Drugs Together: A Consultation
Document on a Strategy for England 1995-98. London: HMSO
3
Definition
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The definition was elaborated in a follow-up document
published in 1995
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Home Office (1995) Tackling Drugs Together: A Strategy for England
1995-1998. London: HMSO.
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In this it was stated that drug-related crime included all
offences committed under the Misuse of Drugs Act
1971 and offences committed by persons acting as a
consequence of drug misuse.
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These included crimes directly connected to drug use
such as burglary and theft and crimes indirectly
connected such as laundering of profits of drug sales
and systemic crimes associated with drug trafficking.
4
Definition

These definitions identify 3 types of drug crime.
‘Drug offences’ which refer to crimes covered by drug
legislation (e.g. drug supply and possession)
 ‘Offences committed by persons acting as a
consequence of drug misuse’ (e.g. burglary and theft)
 ‘Systemic’ crimes which refer to offences indirectly
caused by drug use (e.g. money laundering and drug
trafficking)

5
Definition

These 3 types can also be found in the definition
proposed by the European Monitoring Centre for
Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) in 2003
‘Drug-related crime can be considered to include criminal offences in
breach of drug legislation, crimes committed under the influence of
illicit drugs, crimes committed by users to support their drug habit
(mainly acquisitive crime and drug dealing) and systemic crimes
committed as part of the functioning of illicit markets (fight for
territories, bribing of officials, etc.).’ (EMCDDA, 2003: 33)
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Definition

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The official definitions are fairly clear
But the term ‘drug-related crime’ is sometimes
used in different ways
7
Definition

The Home Office 2007 consultation paper reported that
drug-related crime was decreasing and used as evidence
the number of acquisitive crimes

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Home Office (2007) Drugs: Our Community, Your Say: A Consultation Paper.
London: Home Office.
“Drug-related crime is falling – recorded acquisitive crime has
fallen by 20 per cent since the introduction of the Drug
Interventions Programme”
This equates ‘drug-related crime’ with the second
category of offences committed as a consequence of
drug use
8
Definition

It might help if some agreed terms were developed
that covered the three types of offences individually
and as a group
Drug crime
or
Drug-related crime
Drug offences
(e.g. supply)
Drug-related crime
(e.g. theft to pay for drugs)
or
Systemic crime
Crimes committed
(e.g. money laundering)
as a consequence
of drug use
9
Definition

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A second problem is whether the second type of
‘drug-related crime’ refers to a causal connection
The early Tackling Drug Misuse documents
suggested a causal connection in the phrases...
“offences committed by persons acting as a
consequence of drug misuse”
 “These included crimes directly connected to drug
use such as burglary and theft

10
Definition

This was also suggested in the 2003 definition
proposed by the European Monitoring Centre for
Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)
‘Drug-related crime can be considered to include criminal offences in
breach of drug legislation, crimes committed under the influence of
illicit drugs, crimes committed by users to support their drug habit
(mainly acquisitive crime and drug dealing) and systemic crimes
committed as part of the functioning of illicit markets (fight for
territories, bribing of officials, etc.).’ (EMCDDA, 2003: 33)
11
Definition
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It seems clear from these definitions that the second
type of ‘drug-related crime’ requires a causal connection
between drug use and crime
This would prove quite challenging when it comes to
measuring ‘drug-related crime’
Not all ‘acquisitive crime’ will be connected to drug use
Not all crimes committed by ‘drug users’ will be
connected to their drug use
In order to measure ‘drug-related crime’ it would be
necessary to know the motivation for it
12
Research on drug-related crime
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It might be useful to consider the research
implications connected to this discussion
One implication is that more needs to be known
about the causal connection between drug use
and crime
13
Research on drug-related crime
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
This is the conclusion that has been reached among
policy makers in the United States
In 2001 the US National Institute of Justice established
a forum for researchers to propose a drugs and crime
research agenda for the 21st century


BROWNSTEIN, H. and CROSLAND, C. (2003), Toward a Drugs and
Crime Research Agenda for the 21st Century. National Institute of Justice,
U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC.
One of the aims of the forum was to discuss the
usefulness of Goldstein’s tripartite conceptual
framework for explaining ‘drug-related crime’
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Research on drug-related crime
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Goldstein’s conceptual framework divided explanations
of the connection into three groups...


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‘Economic-compulsive’ crime was committed as a means of
generating money to support drug use.
‘Psychopharmacological’ crime occurred when the use of
drugs resulted in change or impairment in cognitive
functioning.
‘Systemic’ crime was associated with crime that occurred as
part of the system of drug distribution and use.

Goldstein, P. (1985), ‘The Drugs/Violence Nexus: A Tripartite
Conceptual Framework’, Journal of Drug Issues, 15: 493-506.
15
Research on drug-related crime
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There have been some criticisms of this
framework
One is that the tripartite categories are not mutually
exclusive (e.g. systemic crimes might also be
economically motivated)
 Another is that the systemic model is not applicable
to the majority of young drug users who are not
involved in the high-level drug distribution system
(i.e. systemic crimes).

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Research on drug-related crime
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One of the conclusions of the NIJ forum was
that Goldstein’s framework needed to be
updated.

In particular more needed to be known about...
the causal connection between drug use and crime
 how it varied across drug types and offence types
 how it varied across demographic factors

17
Research on drug-related crime
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A couple of years ago Katy Holloway and I began
some unfunded interview-based research on the causal
connection between drug use and crime.
The aim of the research was to describe and explain the
various mechanisms that linked drug use and crime.
This results of this have just been published.

Bennett, T. H. and Holloway, K. (2009) ‘The causal connection
between drug use and crime’. British Journal of Criminology. doi:
10.1093/bjc/azp014. (Advanced access April 2009).
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Research on drug-related crime
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The research was conducted in three prisons (2 in Wales and 1 in
England)
In two prisons, respondents were selected from within the
CARAT scheme.
In the third prison, respondents were selected from a particular
wing.
In total, we interviewed 41 prisoners.
The respondents were all males with an age range of 22 to 56.
Their main offences were: drug offences, assault and robbery
The main method of data collection was a semi-structured
interview.
Offenders were asked to describe some of their connections in
detail.
In total, 133 detailed narratives of specific drug-crime
connections were identified and analysed.
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Research on drug-related crime
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The first thing we did was to ask offenders whether any of
ten drug types and ten crime types have ever been
connected.
The most common connections reported were heroin and
drug dealing, burglary dwelling and handling
n=545
drug-crime connection
heroin and drug dealing
heroin and burglary non-dwelling
heroin and handling
tranquillisers and assault
amphetamines and drug dealing
ecstasy and drug dealing
heroin and assault
heroin and shoplifting
tranquillisers and burglary non-dwelling
tranquillisers and vehicle crime
n
16
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15
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13
13
12
12
12
12
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Research on drug-related crime
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We then asked them to describe (up to three)
specific occasions when their drug use and
crime were connected
In total we transcribed 133 narratives of specific
drug-crime connections
These were grouped initially into Goldstein’s
three categories
These were then adjusted or expanded until all
narratives would be categorised
21
Research on drug-related crime
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The main change to Goldstein’s framework was
to replace the ‘systemic crime’ category with a
‘lifestyles’ category
This was because it was not only drug lifestyle
factors that influenced the connection
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It was also influenced by crime lifestyle factors as
well as cultural factors
22
Results
Casual
direction
Explanation
DC
Economic
Obtain money for drugs
Obtain drugs directly
Save legal money for
drugs
Pharmacological
Aggression
Courage
Judgement impairment
Lifestyle
Criminal contacts
Offended to get treatment
Retaliation
CD
Economic
Obtain drugs directly
Surplus proceeds of crime
spent on drugs
Pharmacological
Courage
Lifestyle
Dealing provides surplus
drugs
Elaboration
Theft of cash or goods for drugs
Dealt in drugs to provide a source
of drugs
Stealing subsistence items to keep
legal income for drug
Drugs generated anger which led
to crime
Drugs provided the courage to
offend
Drug use led to a decision to
offend
Drug use involved making
criminal contacts
Chaotic drug lifestyle made access
to traditional treatment difficult
Drug-related disputes led to crime
Crimes against drug dealers
resulted in theft of drugs
‘Chemical recreation’ following a
successful crime
Drugs consumed to facilitate the
commission of the offence
Dealing drugs led occasionally to
consumption of drugs
23
Research on drug-related crime
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Economic mechanisms
‘Obtaining drugs directly’
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“…I decided if I was going to still take heroin I’d either always have it or I wouldn’t take
it no more. So I decided to start dealing it.” (085)
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‘Saving legal money for drugs’
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“Most of my shoplifting is around, I would say, clothes. I could be out shopping and I’ll
take something. I might spend two, three hundred pound and steal a hundred pound. ... the
money I save not buying, that goes back into my drugs.” (018)
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Research on drug-related crime
 Economic
 Most
mechanisms
frequently mentioned
Drug dealing (85%)
 Shoplifting (74%)
 Robbery (71%)

 Least
frequently mentioned
Handling (33%)
 Assault (0%)
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25
Research on drug-related crime
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Pharmacological mechanisms
‘Aggression’
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“...with ecstasy I’m just violent if someone winds me up. It’s a very different head on.
Different drug. Ecstasy is a bad choice for violence.” (026)
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‘Courage to offend’
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“Pretty much when I used to take loads of valium, it used to make me feel invincible and I
would just go and starts robbing just for the fact that I thought I could and I’d get away
with it ... I thought I was invisible and no one would see me.” (004)
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Research on drug-related crime
 Pharmacological
 Most
mechanisms
frequently mentioned
Assault (91%)
 Burglary dwelling (46%)
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 Least
frequently mentioned
Drug dealing (12%)
 Handling (0%)
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Research on drug-related crime
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Lifestyle mechanisms
‘Criminal contacts’
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“…you get to know the people, coz it’s all related around that sort of thing init know what
I mean, drugs and crime and all that…” (035)
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‘Offended for treatment’
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“[I was] drinking and doing drugs, I had become homeless, I had lost everything. And I
couldn’t see no way out. ... I had heard through you know other people, that if you go
through prison they have to give you a place when you get out. So, I done it on purpose
really.” (028)
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Research on drug-related crime
 Lifestyle
 Most

mechanisms
frequently mentioned
Handling (67%)
 Least
frequently mentioned
Burglary (0%)
 Robbery (0%)
 Shoplifting (0%)
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Conclusion

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Goldstein’s categories stood up fairly well across
a range of offence and drug types
But...
The systemic category was too narrow
 The lack of causal direction was limiting
 The absence of more detailed category breakdowns
 The absence of crime breakdowns
 The absence of demographic breakdowns
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Conclusion

In order to understand ‘drug-related crime’ there is a
need for more research on...

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the nature of the causal relationship
the mechanisms linking drug use and crime
It is likely that ...
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there are many more causal mechanisms linking drug use and
crime
there is variation in the mechanisms across location and time
there is variation by drug and crime types
there is variation by demographic factors.
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Conclusion
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End!
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