Committing economic crime for drug money

We examine the effects of the type and frequency of drug use on whether offenders engage in economic crime to obtain money for drugs. Analyses are based on a nationally representative sample of prison inmates (5,371 property offenders and 4,588 drug offenders). Daily users of heroin, crack cocaine,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Felson, Richard B. (Author)
Contributors: Staff, Jeremy
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2017
In: Crime & delinquency
Year: 2017, Volume: 63, Issue: 4, Pages: 375-390
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Keywords:
Addiction
Beschaffungskriminalität
Drogenhandel
Drug traffic
Drug trafficking
Eigentumskriminalität
Illegal drug use
Party lifestyle
Property crime
Sucht
Description
Summary:We examine the effects of the type and frequency of drug use on whether offenders engage in economic crime to obtain money for drugs. Analyses are based on a nationally representative sample of prison inmates (5,371 property offenders and 4,588 drug offenders). Daily users of heroin, crack cocaine, or powdered cocaine are most likely to report that they committed their offense for drug money. However, offenders who used these drugs less frequently and daily users of marijuana and methamphetamine reported this motivation as well. The motivation was more common among offenders who lacked access to legitimate income. The findings suggest that economic crimes are used to support recreational drug use as well as heavy use of heroin and cocaine.
ISSN:1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/0011128715591696