The complex connection between drug abuse and crime

Illicit drug abuse and criminal behaviour are said to be closely associated. Criminal behaviour including violent assault, homicide, manslaughter, or serious threats are common everyday behaviours in many drug abusers suffering with co-morbidities. According to a report, in a systematic review of studies in prisoned population, alcohol abuse and dependence were reported in 18%–30% in males and 10%–24% in females, whereas drug abuse and dependence were reported in 10%–48% and 30%–60% of male and female inmates respectively.

Substance use disorders are known to be associated with violent crimes. Crime patterns induced by substance abuse indicate important treatment needs in these people and special medical interventions when compared to other kinds of crime. Some studies of the imprisoned male population revealed that unaddressed psychological illnesses in early adulthood when coupled with substance abuse result in extremely violent behaviour in future.

Special attention to such criminals is much needed as data indicates that in-prison treatment of substance use disorders as a group is resulting in relapse of violent crime behaviour in individuals with early crime records. These crimes are classified into three categories. Apart from possession, production and purchase of drugs which are considered as indictable crimes, there are acquisitive crimes such as stealing, shoplifting, or burglary, related to the need to finance drug use. Organised criminal activities, such as money laundering and political corruption, in support of the drug trade are the others.

Though crime is associated with alcohol and drug abuse, drugs alone are not responsible for causing the crimes. The crime phase in substance abusers initially starts with burglaries and robberies. Studies about high-rate offenders show that their criminal careers started well before they even started administering drugs. Experts opine that even if we are successful at eliminating drug abuse to a certain level, there would be less than significant decrease in crime rate as some criminals behave so because of psychotic reasons. Thus, we can say that alcohol and drug abuse add to the already existing mental disorders and make them severe.

Predator rapes are other criminal instances which are a common scene in drug administering setups, be in groups, parties or club activities. These drugs facilitated sexual assaults are carried out either when the victim is in an incapacitated state due to excessive consumption of drugs or alcohol or been intentionally administered date rape drugs. Either ways, a whopping 75% of all acquaintance rapes have been observed to involve alcohol and/or drugs.

Various types of drugs and alcohol result in various outcomes in various people depending on their make and psychological wellness. Studies are being held to understand this complex relation better and introduce measures to contain the drug induced crime rate.If you or your loved one is suffering with such an illness that aggravates the streak of violent behaviour after administering drugs, please feel free to contact Phoenix Rehab Services for help.

Phoenix Rehab Services is a leading Rehabilitation Centre in India for Substance Abuse and Behavioural Addiction. At Phoenix, we can help provide the right tools to you or your loved ones on the journey to lead a healthy life free from addiction. Our reliable & effective Drug and Alcohol Addiction Recovery Program is headed and supported by experienced & dedicated de-addiction therapists and is driven by motivated staff that is equipped to handle the various needs of patients and has years of experience in treating addiction.

Our top inpatient de-addiction program in the world, expert team handling this program, our state-of-the-art facility located in Hyderabad, India and our multi-disciplinary and medically guided holistic approach to individual patient scenarios will help you heal from your physical, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual ailments towards total Recovery.

Our Integrated Drug & Alcohol Addiction Recovery Program is a 12 Step Program approved by the World Health Organization. We are proud to mention that we enabled hundreds of successful recoveries from around the globe. In fact, the very first in-patient in our rehab happened to be from overseas.