For Young Adults age 17-25

Crimes Associated with Drug Use

Criminal activity is often associated with drug use. A survey completed in 2004 showed that 17% of state inmates and 18% of federal inmates said they committed the crime(s) that they were then serving time for while under the influence of drugs in order to obtain money for drugs. Of the inmates, 14% were using marijuana and 11% were using cocaine or crack.

Though for every crime there will be inmates that were sober and those that were under the influence when committed, the majority of the inmates that were using committed robbery, weapons violation, burglary, and motor vehicle theft.

An interesting note is that 74% of state prisoners with a mental health problem and 56% of those without were addicted to or abused alcohol or drugs. Over a third of state prisoners with a mental health issue said they were on drugs when they committed their offense. This is of interest because it points out the correlation between dual-diagnosis and drug abuse.

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