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INTRODUCTION The previous chapters have focused mainly on the statistical association between drug use and crime. We have not yet discussed whether drug use and crime are causally connected. It might be the case that the two are statistically associated (when you get one, you tend to get the other) but not causally connected (one does not cause the other). There has been no shortage of theories of the possible causal connection between drug use and crime. These include economic explanations (e.g., crimes are committed to fund drug use), psychopharmacological explanations (e.g., crimes are committed as a result of judgment impairment from drugs), and sociological explanations (e.g., drugs are purchased from the proceeds of crime) mentioned earlier. However, little is known about whether these explanations are valid, whether some are linked to certain conditions or apply only to certain individuals, or whether some are more common than others. It is possible that the causal connection between drug use and crime is different for women compared with men, younger people compared with older people, heroin users compared with amphetamine users, or car thieves compared with street robbers. Common sense tells us that different circumstances will involve different causal processes. However, it is still unclear when one explanation might apply compared with another. The New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) surveys were not designed to investigate causality directly because this would have required determining the main elements of a causal process including establishing a statistical association, identifying the temporal order between the presumed cause and effect, and ruling out any rival hypotheses (other events that might have caused the changes). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION It is widely believed that drug use causes crime. The current UK drugs policy is based on this assumption and one of the aims of the strategy is to reduce crime by reducing the availability of drugs (Home Office, 2002). However, it is not wholly certain that there is a connection. Although many studies have shown a link between drug use and crime, many others have not. There have also been few systematic reviews of the literature as a whole which might help unravel these different findings. It is possible that drugs and crime are connected under certain conditions and not under others. The data collected as part of the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) program adds to this body of knowledge on the links between drug use and crime. In particular, it provides an opportunity to investigate variations in the association and some of the conditions that might affect it. PREVIOUS RESEARCH A considerable body of research has attempted to establish whether there is a statistical connection between drug use and crime. The association has been investigated in part by looking at samples of criminals to determine their level of drug use and, in part, at samples of drug users to determine their level of criminality. The following section summarizes selected research findings from different countries and a brief overview of some reviews of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]