As a government advisor I have been asked by the Minister of Justice to prepare a report identifying policy solutions to crime in Scotland. In the following report I will focus on drugs and alcohol.

A Drugscope study has found that the majority of people who steal to fund their drug habits were already involved in crime before taking drugs.

Drugs lead to crime

Harrison and Backenheimer (1998) claim that

“Addiction to illicit drugs appears to be an amplifier or catalyst which aggravates deviant tendencies.”

This statement could be deemed as being true as if you look at harder drugs such as heroin or crack you will find that these drugs are highly addictive and users become dependant on them, more so than other “softer” drugs like cannabis for example. It is due to this dependence that many people believe that drugs lead to crime.

It is widely believed that drug takers commit crime to fund their habit. This can be backed up by Drugscopes studies, which found that heroin users in London were committing crimes to fund their habit, costing an average of £400 per week. However this was a small study and isn’t totally representative of the nation.

According to Drugscope, in the UK each year there are around four million people will use some sort of illegal substance. Most in this figure will uses so called ‘recreational’ drugs such as cannabis. Out of this number around 200,000 will use hard drugs such as crack or heroin. This group of drug takers are more likely to be involved in crime to fund their habit.  

Alcohol related crime

‘Alcohol-related crime’ is a popular rather than a legal term. Normally, it is used to refer to two main categories of offences:

a) Alcohol-defined offences such as drunkenness offences or driving with

excess alcohol.

b) Offences in which the consumption of alcohol is thought to have played a

role of some kind in the committing of the offence, usually in the sense that

the offender was under the influence of alcohol at the time. Examples of

offences which are often committed by people under the influence are

assault, breach of the peace, criminal damage and other public order

offences.

Alcohol is a major factor in the role of crime. You only have to look at closing time in Glasgow city centre on a Friday or Saturday night to observe this. Thousands of people file out of clubs and bars each night and within ten minute you are more than likely to see some sort of fight or act of vandalism taking place. Some of these although petty are still classed as crimes. This fact can be highlighted by the Institute of Alcohol Studies, which found that between the hours of 10:30, and 3:30 the majority of all arrests within the UK are for alcohol related incidents. These are most likely to be for public order offences.  

The above graph shows the dramatic increase in incidents which the police must deal with between the hours of pub and clubs closing. This graph highlights the point made above.

According to Lamboso (1911/1968: 95/96) 

“Men sometimes seek in drink the courage the courage to commit crime, or an excuse for their misdeeds”.

This quote highlights highlight one of the main problems with drink, in that normally mild mannered people can completely change persona after a few drinks. This may be due to the fact that alcohol can increase aggression in an individual in situations of provocation, threat or frustration.

Although most people do drink responsibly (or if they don’t they won’t cause trouble!), some people will commit crimes while under the influence. According to the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) alcohol related crime is most likely to

• Involve young males aged 18-30
• Occur in city centres.

They also found that 20-30% of all violent or disorderly behaviour occurs in or near licensed premises.

Policy recommendations

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders

There have been many government initiatives recently to cope with the drug problem in the UK. One of which I personally feel may be an aid in the reduction of reducing drug related crime. The measure that I am talking about is the introduction of drug testing and treatment orders (DTTO). The aim of these DTTO’s is to reduce the amount of crime used to fund users drug habits, and also to reduce drug misuse in general.

DTTO’s were introduced in the Crime and Disorder act of 1998. These DTTO’s are given out by judges to offenders who would usually be given a prison term. These orders allow users help in coming off drugs rather than just locking them away for a few months, with the likelihood that upon release they will go back to drugs and re-offend.

The people taking part in the order will be given drug counselling and there progress will be reported back to the court. They can also be given random drug tests at anytime during the order. If they break the order and keep taking drugs then there order will be revoked and they will be given a custodial sentence.

These were originally piloted in Glasgow and Fife. So far studies into the effectiveness of the DTTO’s have found that after six months on an order the average expenditure on drugs fell from £490 to £57 per week. These figures show just how useful these orders could be. I feel that these should be at the disposal of all ocurt in the country.

The fund would initially cost the executive a lot of money to set up, nearly half a million in Glasgow alone, however the results have shown they can work and if they help reduce the amount of drug-related crime, which is estimated to cost the Scottish economy around £1 billion per year then I personally feel it would be money well spent.

Decriminalization

Another more extreme and radical method to cut the amount of drug crime would be the decriminalisation all drugs. People who feel that decriminalisation would cut crime believe that although the drugs would now be easily available this would no cause an overwhelming rise in usage. They feel that if the government taxed then the money could be spent wisely on health care and education etc. They believe that since the drugs are no legal pharmaceutical companies would make them and as such they would be more pure and less of a risk to the users. Also another factor would be that the legalisation would cut the motives of criminals, as they would no longer make significant profit.

Although in theory this argument could make sense, for example I feel the legalisation of cannabis could work, as its effects are not that bad, and also it is a non-dependant drug so it could be legalized providing it was regulated properly. It could be taxed like cigarettes and the effects of this would not be too much of a burden on society. Also this would bring down crime statistics on drug possession, as the majority off drug possession and dealing charges are in relation to cannabis so this would make the problem of drug related crime seem lower.

However I feel total legalising of all drugs would be a very big and also highly dangerous mistake. This could cause a lot more users as beforehand it was harder to get drugs now it is easy so there would be more people willing to try them. Also even though the drugs can be more pure they are still dangerous as the effects will still be the same, albeit using them wouldn’t be as risky. The people who argue for this theory also state the taxation could be used for health care. I don’t believe this view as in reality if you had drugs legalized there would be more people addicted to the likes of heroin and crack and as such the money more money would be needed for this i.e. more needle exchanges, more rehab centres etc. Also I fail to see how the legalizing would alleviate crime as at the end of the day people will still be addicted and need money for there habit, and will still steal to fund it only now it will be dearer since the drugs are taxed so in theory this method could actually increase drug crime.

Policy recommendations for alcohol related crime

The problem of alcohol related crime is a very hard one to try reduce. This is due to the sheer number of licensed premises that there are. The amount of places were people can go and get drunk is very high so trying to combat alcohol related crime without shutting down premises will be hard.

I feel that the approach by Glasgow city council to abolish happy hours and drinks promotions is a good start in reducing crime. This stops people feeling the need to drink fast, and as such get drunk quicker, just so they can get there drinks cheaper. I feel this approach will help reduce crime as if people are not getting there drinks as cheap and not drinking as fast they may not get as drunk and then there may not be as many fights. If this approach was set out across the whole of the UK this could lead to a significant reduction in crime.

I also feel that the executive should increase drinking up time to thirty minutes but also keep the opening hours the same. This measure would stop people from trying to down there drinks quicker and also give them less time at the bar once last order have been called, so they will not be getting as many drinks as the bar will shut earlier.

According to IAS there are around 5000 ‘glassings’ in the UK each year. This is when a class container is used as a weapon. I feel this is a significant factor in the cause of crime. I suggest that all pubs switch from glass to plastic or toughened glass, as this I feel will reduce the risk of violent assaults happening inside clubs. Blanket nightclub in Glasgow have already took this approach and have been commended by Glasgow city council, as they hope to make Glasgow a glass free are to combat this very problem.

 Another way in which alcohol related crime could be reduced would be to better regulate underage drinking. Larger fines could be imposed for shopkeepers who sell to under age children and also older people who buy alcohol for them. These deterrents would hopefully be enough to reduce the problem of underage drinking which in itself a crime.

Due to the fact that most alcohol related crime happens after closing times of pubs and clubs a way in which you could reduce crime would be to have more ‘bobbies’ on the beat. Although this measure will not necessarily reduce the crime it could act as a visual deterrent which will stop people from fighting and vandalising. If you have more police on patrol at night in city centre locations where there are pubs and clubs people will be less likely to offend and they will also provide reassurance for people previously intimidated by the drunken louts that inhabit just about every city centre in the UK.

In the same way as above greater use of CCTV could be a factor, which reduces crime. As if people know that they are constantly being watched they may be less inclined to act in a deviant manor  

According to the IAS factors that could lead to crime in actual licensed premises, is the poor layout of bars, which leads to overcrowding, and then leads to fights, also secluded from sight alcoves. Obviously it would not be viable for all bars to alter there layouts to avert overcrowding, however they could introduce CCTV in the clubs and keep this monitored and also have stewards patrolling the bar and not just on the front door, this could be used to have a more organised bar system and also they can be there to defuse any situations before they lead to trouble and fights.

New pubs could have there layouts checked by the council to ensure that the problems highlighted in the above paragraph do not materialise. This will not necessarily reduce crime but it could lead to people getting less aggravated in crowded pubs and clubs which, could lead to a reduction in crime occurring inside the establishment or just outside it.

Conclusion

To conclude, it is obvious that Britain today has a major problem with people taking drugs. It also has a significant binge drinking and alcohol culture. These two factors are often cited as causes of crime and the stats show that these assumptions are not exactly false.

It is due to these increasing problems that the government must act, otherwise the situation could become much worse that it currently is and more and more crimes will be committed due to these factors. Above are some factors, which the government are currently considering, or implementing, I have also added some which I feel could lead to a reduction in crime figures. If these measures are applied I feel that there could be a decrease in the number of crimes committed due to these factors. However these factors will take a long time to take noticeable effects.

In the long run I feel that police should go into the schools and educate children more on the dangers of drug taking and also underage drinking. If they get across the right message then the kids will be less likely to take drugs in the future and also may not want to participate in under age drinking. This means in the future there may not be as many drug addicts and as such crime will not increase to a level higher then it already is.

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Bibliography

Books

South N (2002), ‘Drugs, Alcohol, and Crime’, in Maguire et all (editors), The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press

Williams K S (2001), Textbook on Criminology, 4th edition, Oxford University Press

Websites

Drugscope:  visited on 05/11/2004

Scottish Executive:  visited on 01/11/2004

BBC News:  visited on 01/11/2004

Guardian Newspaper:  visited on 01/11/2004

Institute of Alcohol Studies: http://www.ias.org.uk visited on 04/11/2004, 05/11/2004, 11/11/2004

Evening Times newspaper: http:// visited 10/11/2004

Criminal justice Scotland: http:///ee.php/weblog/links visited 01/11/2004

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