Crack cocaine in the Dublin region - Health Research Board

6 Crack-related crime6.0 OverviewThe association between drug use and crime in the international literature is generallyconsidered using four explanatory causal models – (i) psycho-pharmacological crime,(ii) economic compulsive crime, (iii) systemic crime and (iv) the common cause model.This section employs these models to outline the main findings from internationalresearch on crack-related crime. Drawing on information supplied by crack usersand service providers, it presents findings on the association between crack use andcrime in Dublin. The incidence of violent crime and acquisitive crimes such as theft,prostitution and drug dealing are also considered.6.1 Introduction: the drugs–crime linkageThe classification of drugs and precursors in Ireland is made in accordance with thethree United Nations conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988; these introduced controlsin relation to legitimate scientific or medical use of drugs and precursors that alsotake into account the particular risks to public or individual health. 19 Irish legislationdefines as criminal offences the importation, manufacture, trade in and possession,other than by prescription, of most psychoactive substances. The principal criminallegislative framework is laid out in the Misuse of Drugs Acts (MDA) 1977 and 1984 andthe Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1988. The offences of drug possession (s.3 MDA) andpossession for the purpose of supply (s.15 MDA) are the principal forms of criminalcharge used in the prosecution of drug offences. Prior to 2006, data on drug offenceswere reported in the annual reports of An Garda Síochána, but this is now theresponsibility of the Central Statistics Office. The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1988 listthe various substances to which the laws apply under five schedules.However, most Irish drug users who receive sentences of imprisonment are punished,not for drug offences per se, but for offences committed as a consequence of their druguse (Connolly 2006a). Although research studies have identified the clear link betweensome forms of illicit drug use and crime – findings that are consistent throughoutcriminological literature – identifying the precise nature of this link is more complex(Stevens et al. 2005; Bean 2002; White and Gorman 2000). Identifying the causativeconnection between drugs and crime has been a primary preoccupation of manywriters in this area.For the purpose of this study, we will examine the link between crack cocaine andcrime, using the four explanatory causal models outlined above. The first three modelsfollow classification by Goldstein (1985) and are generally used to explain links19 For relevant Irish and international legislation, see the European Legal Database on Drugs which ismaintained by the EMCDDA at http://eldd.emcdda.eu.int/68 Crack cocaine in the Dublin region: an evidence base for a crack cocaine strategy