CJ 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, Recreational Drug Use, School Zone
18 Jun 2018
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Drugs and Crime
The connection between drugs and crime is reflected in at least three types of crimes:
Drug defined crimes, such as the possession, use, or sale of controlled ‐
substances, which violates drug laws.
Crimes committed by drug users to get money to buy more drugs or crimes
committed by persons under the influence of drugs.
Organized criminal activities, such as money laundering and political corruption,
in support of the drug trade.
Crime is associated with drug use, but drugs usually don't cause crime. First, only a
small percentage of burglaries and robberies are drug related. Second, studies of high‐
rate offenders show that many of them began their criminal careers before using drugs.
Most experts agree that even if we could succeed in eliminating drug abuse, there
would be only a small reduction in robberies, burglaries, and similar crimes.
The amount of illegal drug use
The 1995 National Household Survey (which collects self reported information from ‐
4,000 to 9,000 individuals each year) indicates that drug use has declined but that
illegal drug use among teenagers (ages 12–17) increased from 1990 to 1995. A second
survey, the 1995 Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program (which collects urine specimens
and self reported data on drug use from arrested persons) reports that a majority of ‐
male arrestees in U.S. cities tested positive for drugs.
Drug laws
The first major drug law, the Harrison Act (1914), required persons dealing in opium,
morphine, heroin, cocaine, and derivatives of these drugs to register with the federal
government. The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (1970)
forms the basis of federal enforcement efforts today. This law sets up five schedules
which classify narcotic drugs according to the abuse potential. In 1988, the U.S.
Republican leadership stepped up the war on drugs. It passed the Anti Drug Abuse ‐
Act, which substantially increased the penalties for recreational drug users. Other
important federal drug laws include the Crime Control Act (1990) and the Violent
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Document Summary
The connection between drugs and crime is reflected in at least three types of crimes: Drug defined crimes, such as the possession, use, or sale of controlled substances, which violates drug laws. Crimes committed by drug users to get money to buy more drugs or crimes committed by persons under the influence of drugs. Organized criminal activities, such as money laundering and political corruption, in support of the drug trade. Crime is associated with drug use, but drugs usually don"t cause crime. First, only a small percentage of burglaries and robberies are drug related. Second, studies of high rate offenders show that many of them began their criminal careers before using drugs. Most experts agree that even if we could succeed in eliminating drug abuse, there would be only a small reduction in robberies, burglaries, and similar crimes. The 1995 national household survey (which collects self reported information from.
