drugs and crime

What is a Drug?

Any chemical substance defined by social convention as bioactive or psychoactive

Drugs are any ingestible substance that has a noticeable effect on the mind or body

Drugs may enter the body via:

Injection

Inhalation

Swallowing

Absorbtion

Controlled Substance

A specifically defined bioactive or psychoactive chemical substance proscribed  by law

Drug Abuse

Illicit drug use that results in social, economic, psychological, or legal problems for the user.

Recreational Drug User

A person who uses drugs relatively infrequently and primarily with friends and in social contexts that define drug use as pleasurable.

 Most addicts begin as recreational users.

What do most addicts start out as?

Most addicts begin as recreational users.

Psychoactive Substance

chemical substance that affects cognition, feeling, or awareness.

 

Example:

•Heroin

•Peyote

•LSD

•Cocain

Harrison Narcotics Act

The first major piece of federal antidrug legislation passed in 1914.

The Harrison Act required anyone dealing in opium, morphine, heroin, cocaine, and specified derivatives of these drugs to register with the federal government and to pay a tax of $1 per year.

outcome of Harrison Narcotics Act

Physician were able to prescribe controlled drugs for the purpose of medical treatment allowed heroin addicts and other drug users to legally purchase the drugs they needed

Controlled Substances Act 1970

Established schedules classifying psychoactive drugs according to their degree of psychoactivity.

 Five Scheduled Classes

Schedule I

Has no established medical usage, cannot be used safely, and has great potential for abuse.

 

Examples:

•Heroin

•LSD

•Peyote

•Methaqualone

•Marijuana

Schedule II

Controlled substance with high abuse potential for which there is currently accepted pharmacological or medical use.

Very Addictive

Examples:

•Opium

•Morphine

•Codeine

•Cocaine

•Phencyclidine (PCP

Schedule III

Controlled substances that have a lower abuse potential than do those in Schedule I and II. They are drugs with an accepted medical use but that may lead to a high level of psychological dependence or to moderate or low physical dependence.

 

Examples:

Same as Schedule II but are diluted

Schedule IV

Controlled substances that have a relatively low potential for abuse and are useful in established medical treatments, and involve only a limited risk of psychological or physical dependence.

Examples: (Depressants and tranquilizers)

•Valium

•Librium

Schedule V

Controlled substances that are prescribed with a low potential for abuse and with only a very limited possibility of psychological or physical dependence.

 

Examples:

•Cough medications

Drug Trafficking

Trading or dealing in controlled substances, to include the transportation, storage, importing, exporting, or sale of a controlled substance.

Marijuana – 50 Pounds

Cocaine – 28 grams

Methamphetamine – 8 grams

Heroin – 4 grams

Money Laundering

The process by which criminals or criminal organizations seek to disguise the illicit nature of their proceeds by introducing them into the stream of legitimate

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO

A federal statute that allows for the federal seizure of assets derived from illegal enterprise

Forfeiture

The authorized seizure of money, negotiable instruments, securities, or other things of value.

 

Authorized to seize cash, negotiable instruments, securities, or other things of value furnished by any person in exchange for a controlled substance

What is the most serious problem today?

Drug abuse is the most serious law enforcement problem facing communities today