Contributed by Cambrie Schultz
The Factors Leading to and the Proposed Solutions for those Committing Economic Crime in the Pursuit of Drug Money
The Issue and Impact
An analysis done on prison inmates who use drugs like heroin, crack, and powder cocaine on a daily basis have the highest rates of admission that their crimes were committed in the pursuit of drug money. Drug use and lacking consistent and legitimate income are the leading contributing factors for a person to commit an economic crime (Felson & Staff, 2016). Economic crime refers to illegal acts committed to obtain a financial advantage with the principal motive being economic gain (Europol, 2022). Economic crimes affect both the individual drug user and the community as a whole. Individuals can become incarcerated, lose connections between friends and family, and find themselves caught in a cycle of drug use causing crime and committing crime to enable drug use. The community is affected by economic crime in that it creates an unfair market, diminishes the work force, decreases tourism, and an increased financial burden required to pay for incarceration of those that are committing the economic crimes against the community.
Proposed Solutions
If drug use and the lack of consistent income are the factors contributing to users committing economic crimes, providing assistance in those areas could lead to a reduction in economic crimes’ occurrence. An estimated half of state and federal prisoners abuse or are addicted to drugs, but very few receive treatment while incarcerated. Studies show that drug-addicted prisoners who received medication and behavioral treatment while in prison, and continued treatment after release, had reduced drug use and criminal activity compared to those who did not receive treatment efforts in prison (NIDA, 2020). The other area to target the issue of committing economic crimes in the pursuit of drug money would be job placement aid for prisoners following their release from prison. Programs in prison that focus on work training and placement have proven to be effective (James, 2014). Researchers suggest that the best reentry programs for prisoners, as related to reducing drug use and economic crime, are those that begin during a prisoner’s incarceration and extend through the release and societal reintegration process (James, 2014). Encouraging the widespread use and availability of drug treatment and job placement programs for those convicted of economic crimes for drugs will bring aid to the community in terms of reduction in crime, increased work force, safer communities, reduction in drug abuse, and easing the burden that substance use and economic crime place on the justice system.
As for the individual drug users incarcerated for economic crimes, being provided with treatments for the two main causes of their crimes, substance use and lack of legitimate income, will decrease the likelihood of reentry to prison, boost their social standing in the community, and decrease the harm they bring to themselves by engaging in the dangerous system of drugs and crime. Punishing people out of drug use and criminal behavior is not an effective or encouraging way to solve those issues. Harm-reduction efforts such as treatments for substance use issues and programs for job placement are how we are going to more effectively reduce the harmful effects caused by the committal of economic crimes in the pursuit of drug money.