NCJ Number
123322
Date Published
1990
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Existing data and reports indicate that increased use of cocaine is highly correlated with the current higher rates of violence in the U.S.
Abstract
Much of the historical literature around the turn of the century and over the next few decades approached drug use from the perspective of an assumed causal relationship to violence. While data derived from studies conducted in the early part of the 1970s did not generally support a relationship between hard drug use and violence, a number of contradictory observations were emerging that did suggest the daily life of the heroin addict was increasingly violent, with homicide a major cause of death among drug treatment program clients as well as street users. Changes in price, availability, and the addictive potential of free base and crack cocaine have all served to increase the use of cocaine dramatically, especially among poor minorities, street criminal populations, and gangs. The crime-drugs relationship can be understood using a tripartite model consisting of the psychopharmacological effects of the drug, the economic aspects, and the systemic component. Applying this model to the crack/cocaine trade shows that violence is driven by economics and any hope of successful intervention has to be international in scope with a primary focus on economic development and opportunity. 85 references.