What Type Of Crime Is Committed By A Drug Abuser To Obtain Money To Buy Drugs?

Sobriety Test of a man by a police officer at night

Doug Menuez / Photodisc / Getty Images

The exact extent of the role that drugs and alcohol play in the commission of crimes in the United States is probably impossible to determine. But it is significant, according to data from a variety of government sources. Although less than half of victims of violent crimes believe the offender was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, drug tests of those arrested for crimes show a much higher percentage of drug use.

Sometimes drugs and alcohol play a role in criminal activity even when the offender is not under the influence at the time the crime is committed. Many offenders commit crimes to get money to obtain drugs. When you add up crimes committed because of the influence of alcohol or drugs, drug-related criminal offenses, and crimes in which illegal possession of the drug is the crime, the role of alcohol and drugs in crime is extensive.

Victims' Perception of Offenders' Drug and Alcohol Use

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) collects data from victims of violent crimes about whether the victims think that the offender was using drugs or alcohol during the crime. The following is the percentage of offenders who the victims believed were under the influence during the commission of the crime:

Crime of violence: 24.2%
Rapes or sexual assaults: 30.0%
Robbery: 23.3%
Assault: 24.1%
Aggravated assault: 26.2%
Simple assault: 23.5%

Among American Indians, victims reported alcohol use by offenders 62% of the time, compared to 42% of the general population. In violent crimes committed against American Indians, 48% of offenders used alcohol, 9% used drugs, and 14% used both.

Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Data

Information collected by the National Institute of Justice through its Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM II) program tells a different story of drug use among offenders.

The ADAM II program collected urine samples from male arrestees at 10 locations in five counties across the U.S.: Atlanta, GA (Fulton County); Chicago, IL (Cook County); Denver, CO (Denver County); New York, NY (Borough of Manhattan); and Sacramento, CA (Sacramento County).

Arrestees were tested for marijuana, cocaine metabolites, opiates, amphetamine/methamphetamine, barbiturates, benzodiazepine, buprenorphine, methadone, PCP, and oxycodone. The ADAM II data provided objective measures of drug use along with the self-reported use among those arrested and charged with crimes and provided a method to monitor trends in drug use among offenders.

Findings from the 2013 ADAM II data collection include:

The percentage of arrestees who tested positive for drugs ranged from 63% in Atlanta to 83% in Chicago and Sacramento.
Those with multiple drugs in their system ranged from 12% in Atlanta to 50% in Sacramento.
Marijuana was the most commonly used drug among arrestees, from 34% in Atlanta to 59% in Sacramento.
The use of cocaine continued a significant decline in all locations.
The self-reported use of crack cocaine increased in New York but declined in other locations.
The continued trend in increased use of opiates (such as heroin, morphine, synthetic opiates) was significant at all locations.
Denver and Sacramento both saw significant increases in the use of opiates and methamphetamine from 2000 to 2013.
The availability of heroin was stable in all locations but New York, where difficulty in purchasing the drug (a failed buy) went from 77% in 2007 to only 35% in 2013.

Committing Crimes to Obtain Drugs

According to a 2004 BJS survey, an estimated 17% of state prisoners and 18% of federal inmates reported that they committed the crimes for which they were then incarcerated in order to obtain money to buy drugs. Those who do commit crimes to obtain money for drugs are more likely to commit property crimes and drug offenses (trafficking) than they are violent crimes and public order offenses.

Among jail inmates charged with property crimes, these percentages of arrestees reported being under the influence of drugs at the time of the crime:

Robbery: 56%
Weapons violations: 56%
Burglary: 55%
Motor vehicle theft: 55%

Alcohol-Related Crimes

Officials estimate that 1.5 million drivers per year are arrested for driving under the influence in the United States. That translates to 1,250 arrests for every 100,000 drivers.

Drivers are legally alcohol-impaired when their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.08 grams per deciliter (g/dL) or higher in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. A crash involving a driver with a BAC of 0.08 or higher is considered to be an alcohol-impaired-driving crash.

Fatalities occurring in those crashes are considered to be alcohol-impaired-driving fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Within NHTSA reports, the term "alcohol-impaired" does not indicate that a crash or a fatality was caused by alcohol impairment, only that an alcohol-impaired driver was involved in the crash.

The 10,847 people who died in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes in 2017 included:

7,368 drivers with a BAC 0.08 or more
1,492 passengers riding with a drunk driver
1,583 occupants of other vehicles
1,181 non-occupants (pedestrians, etc.)

A Death Every 48 Minutes

Here are key findings in the 2017 NHTSA Alcohol-Impaired Driving report, published in November 2018:

An average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality occurred every 48 minutes in 2017.
Alcohol-impaired crashes accounted for 19% of all traffic fatalities among children 14 and younger.
Alcohol-impaired crashes with drunk drivers were highest among motorcycle riders (27%) compared to passenger cars (21%), light trucks (20%), and large trucks (3%).
The rate of alcohol-impaired fatal crashes is almost four times greater at night.
Of the 9,967 alcohol-related fatalities in 2017, 68% involved drivers with a BAC of 0.15 or higher.

A Word From Verywell

Research has shown that there is a significant relationship between violent crime and substance use. Both drugs and alcohol are linked to violence and crime, but the risk is greatest when substances and alcohol are used at the same time.

While alcohol and substance use is linked to criminal offenders, it is also important to recognize that drug and alcohol use can also increase people's risk of being victims of crime. A better understanding of drug and crime statistics can help guide research, law enforcement, treatment, and policy to address the needs of vulnerable individuals.

Thanks for your feedback!

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Robinson JE, Rand MR. Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2008 - Statistical Tables. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2011.
Mumola CJ, Karberg JC. Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2006.
Perry SW. American Indians and Crime: A BJS Statistical Profile, 1992-2002. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2004.
Office of National Drug Control Policy. 2013 Annual Report: Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program II. 2014.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Impaired Driving: Get the Facts. Updated March 22, 2019.
Yoder J. Drunk Driving. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2019.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Alcohol-Impaired Driving. 2018.
Duke AA, Smith K, Oberleitner LM, Westphal A, McKee SA. Alcohol, drugs, and violence: A meta-meta-analysis. Psychol Violence. 2018;8(2):238-249. doi:10.1037/vio0000106