Lifetime Criminality of Heroin Addicts in the United States

Abstract

A probability-based sample of 243 addicts was selected for study from a Baltimore population of 4,069 male opiate addicts. The sample was interviewed and their criminal history was traced in detail over an 11 year risk period during which they were “on the street”. It was found that these 243 heroin addicts had committed more than 473,000 crimes. As measured by crime-days, the average addict committed over 178 offenses per year and almost 2,000 offenses during his post-onset lifetime. Although the predominant offense committed was theft (as with most populations of criminals), these addicts were also involved in a wide range of other crimes: drug sales, robbery, forgery, pimping, assault, and murder. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the impact of arrest and incarceration upon the lifetime criminality of these addicts. These research results provide a means for estimating the extent of criminality among heroin addicts throughout the United States. Our calculations indicate that the 450,000 heroin addicts in the United States commit more than 50,000,000 crimes per year and that their lifetime criminality exceeds 819,000,000 offenses.

Relationship between Drug Treatment Engagement and Criminal Thinking Style among Drug-Using Offenders

“…Indeed, Ball et al [3] reported that dur-ment [9] . Research in both community and criminal justice settings has consistently shown relationships between pre-treatment motivation and engagement, suggesting the need for motivational assessments and interventions [10,11] .…”

Prescription médicale de stupéfiants et délinquance

“…Les mêmes sources signalent qu'en 1995 environ 14 000 personnes suivaient un traitement à la méthadone en Suisse. temporelles entre toxicomanie et délinquance sont multiples et complexes -plusieurs recherches indiquent que, règle générale, la délinquance précède la consommation de drogues dures (Ball et al, 1981 ;Kreuzer et al, 1991 ;Killias et al, 1994a ;Grapendaal et al, 1995) mais il semble établi que l'interaction entre ces deux phénomènes conduit à une augmentation démesurée de la délinquance. En effet, étant donné le coût des drogues dures, il devient à long terme pratiquement impossible pour les toxicomanes de se procurer par des voies légales l'argent nécessaire pour acheter la quantité de drogue dont ils ont besoin.…”

Distinguishing Between Effects of Criminality and Drug Use on Violent Offending

“…13 Chaiken and Chaiken (1984); Elliott and Huizinga (1984) ;Goldstein, et al (1991); Harrison and Gfroerer (1992); Dembo, et al (1994) 14 Studies of offending patterns by narcotic addicts during periods of varying levels of drug use include McGlothlin, et al (1978), Ball, et al (1981, Ball, et al (1983), Shaffer, et al (1984), Nurco, et al (1985), Nurco, et al (1986), Nurco, et al (1988), Speckart (1986, 1988), Speckart and Anglin (1986a). Relying on panel data from general population samples of juveniles, two studies examine temporal patterns in initiation of drug use and delinquency (Huizinga et al, 1989;van Kammen and Loeber, 1994).…”