Just Because Criminals Use Drugs Doesn't Mean Drugs Cause Crime
ONDCP's latest blog post boldly proclaims that drugs cause crime because most people who get arrested test positive for drugs. As is their habit, ONDCP's post was created by taking a newspaper article, misunderstanding it, and then drawing exaggerated conclusions that are factually wrong:
The Drug-Crime Link: Most Adults Committing Crimes in San Diego High at Time of Arrest
A new report out of San Diego County illustrates the strong connection between using drugs and committing crime. The North County Times reports:
"While the number of adults that test positive for drugs when arrested dropped slightly in 2006 compared with the year before, narcotics use continues to show up in more than 70 percent of arrestees, according to a report released Tuesday by the San Diego Association of Governments...
The headline alone contains two wildly inaccurate claims. For starters, being arrested doesn't mean you've actually committed a crime. Duh. This may seem insignificant, since drug use rates are probably the same or higher among those convicted. Still, it's a reflection of ONDCP's mindset that arrestees are simply presumed guilty.
More to the point, testing positive for drugs absolutely doesn’t mean you're high. Cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine remain detectable in your system for up to 4 days, while PCP and marijuana can linger for up to a month. We can identify these drugs in someone's body, but we cannot prove when the drugs were ingested or whether they were intoxicated at the time of arrest.
ONDCP's whole premise that drug use makes people go crazy and break the law is just not supported at all by this data. Addicted users frequently commit crimes precisely because they're no longer high, but they'd like to be. This link can be better addressed through maintenance programs and by eliminating the black market that inflates prices and forces addicts to steal.
Marijuana users, on the other hand, are unlikely to ever pass a drug test if they use more than twice a month. How many of these arrestees are just marijuana users who smoked days or weeks before an unrelated arrest? It's the most widely used and most detectable illicit drug, so its inclusion skews the entire picture.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there's a huge drug war going on, which causes drug users to be arrested at alarming rates. It's the number one thing people get arrested for. If we stopped arresting people for having drugs, the percentage of arrestees who test positive for them would decrease substantially. Literally, the government is arresting people for drugs, then claiming that you shouldn’t do drugs because they'll cause you to get yourself arrested.
Don't get me wrong, there is a drug-crime link, but it's not the one you read about at PushingBack.com. It's a product of the great war we've declared on one another, and it will go away only when we admit our terrible mistake.
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Comment posted by Scott Morgan on Fri, 08/31/2007 - 12:56amI've found a few of my upcoming blog posts already written on your site as well.
It's fun for now, but just imagine what would happen if we disagreed on something. I'm not sure the drug reform blogosphere could handle that. Please warn me well ahead of time if you ever plan on being wrong.
Just because
Comment posted by Kevin Kneeland on Fri, 08/31/2007 - 8:36pmJust because drunk cops beat their wives dosen't mean all cops are drunks :) I'm kind of compassionate. FTG
P.S.
Comment posted by Kevin Kneeland on Fri, 08/31/2007 - 8:42pmUnrelated, Sorry
I didn't get many responses to my raising a flag question so I am going to raise 2 flags. On top: The Marijuana flag. Beneith it, the skull and crossbones (pirate). I can't help myself. I have a need to lash back in any way I can at this insane world.
www.pissedoffpothead.com
What other drugs lead to a life of crime?
Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 09/03/2007 - 9:22amLet's examine this. First has to be caffeine, I don't know about you but I start everyday with at least three cups of coffee. Gotta get that caffeine jolt. Second would be nicotine, coffee and cigarettes, they're just a natural pairing. What's next, well I don't know about you but driving in rush hour traffic sure gets my adrenaline flowing. After which I get home and have a drink since I can not smoke a joint cause that would make me a criminal. So lets review I have just rattled off four legal drugs all of which I would guess would also lead me down the path to a life of crime. Oh yea wait I forgot oxygen I can't go more that a couple of minutes without getting a dose of oxygen. Of course because of government inaction that last one keeps getting harder to get good quality oxygen. When will they stop quoting Anslinger and Reefer Madness? The real reefer madness is this country's over reaction to marijuana that has lead to decades of persecution in the guise of prosecution.
Peace
Barry Considine
Casey’s Dream - http://caseysdream.blogspot.com/
Guilt by Association
Comment posted by Giordano on Mon, 09/03/2007 - 2:44pmSo what made the ONDCP seize this pitiful crumb of rancid journalism from The North County Times and highlight it as gospel on their blog?
As anti-drug propaganda goes, the article covers all the old tried-and-true techniques.
No distinction is made between different types of drugs, nor the individual consequences of their use. No divisions are made with regard to which crimes earn a person the dreaded title “arrestee.” For instance, are the arrests skewed by property crimes? If not, then the statistic is no more than a snapshot of culture at large. A comparison as vague as the ONDCP trophy piece du jour can be used to arrive at virtually any random conclusion. And of course they do.
Guilt by association is definitely included in this strange and wicked brew of correlations being boiled and stirred by the ONDCP. By what can be gleaned from this latest batch of half-truths, however, it is obvious that arrestees make drugs look really bad.
Also, the ONDCP fails to explain why someone such as a bank robber should in any way be expected to draw a legal and moral boundry line when breaking laws as clueless as those prohibiting marijuana.
A danger within the propaganda is that it can be used to promote former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s idea that arrests for minor indiscretions like drug use will somehow affect the overall crime rate. The way the article is written, if it's not carefully read, there is a veiled implication that 70-percent of all drug users are involved in crimes other than drug use. This assumption can be quashed by noting an old study that indicated that if all [or even 70-percent] of drug users were buying their chemical entertainment from proceeds derived by criminal activity, the American crime rate would be astronomic.
Giordano
.org
Doing my work
Comment posted by Drug WarRant on Thu, 08/30/2007 - 10:44pmNice one, Scott -- I was essentially writing this post in my head when I saw you had already done it.