NCJ Number
224983
Date Published
2008
Length
329 pages
Annotation
Contributing to the debate on the direct link between drug taking and crime, this updated and expanded edition of Drugs and Crime provides an overview of the range of issues associated with drug-related crime, and assesses what is broadly known about drugs and crime and related matters such as policing, drug testing, and treatment.
Abstract
A high proportion of crimes committed in Britain are drug-related, with many offenders reporting drug use prior to the commission of their offense. However, the direct link between drug taking and crime is often less clear than is assumed. This third edition is intended to add to the debate of this linkage and hopefully stimulate some new ideas. The task is to examine some of the major criminological implications of the drugs-crime nexus, to determine how drugs and crime are linked and to assess the responses made to those links. Particular attention is paid to policing drugs and drug markets and the way they operate. So, the central theme of the book is the importance of reducing supply at local, national, and international levels. Accordingly, there are chapters on the drugs-crime link, sentencing drug offenders, policing drug offenders including the use of informers, coercive treatment, trafficking and laundering, and on gender issues, including the treatment of women drug users. Building on the strengths of earlier editions, the book has been updated, including new information on police tactics, such as ‘stop and search’ and ‘test purchase’, and a chapter dedicated entirely on the legalization debate. There is little doubt that the ‘drugs crime’ problem remains central to criminology generally and government’s thinking in particular. Figures, tables, references, and index