Julia Haley

Dr. Litwicki
Drugs in the US
12/1/16
Drugs and Homicide
Since the 1980s, there has been a significant positive correlation between the use of
illicit drugs and the rate of homicide. Youth homicide has been an increasing issue, and more
youth are being put in positions where they have more access to illicit drugs, leading to more
murder. Also, gang violence has been a big issue over the past few decades, because gangs also
have been dealing these drugs, giving them more accessibility. Most homicide cases that involve
the use of drugs involve at least one drug either being found in the body of the victim, or being in
the perpetrators system at the time of the crime. However, there have been several cases that
have been more severe. In some cases, the victim is found to have multiple combinations of
drugs in their body at the time of death. Heroin, alcohol and cocaine have become some of the
main drugs associated with homicide. Drug-linked homicides have been a large issue since the
1980s, from homicides committed because of drugs, victims being under the influence, and
murders by people that are under the influence. All of these issues and drugs have led to a strong
correlation between homicide and drug use, and it has been an increasing problem since the
1980s.
One of the major causes of the homicide problem in the United States is the availability
of drugs, which leads to an increase in violent crimes because victims under the influence are
more vulnerable and thus attractive targets for potential offenders (Parker et al. 506). Also,
alcohol has been proven to lead to aggressive behaviors, and Wells et al. proposed an idea stating

that people consume alcohol in order to maintain their self image and identities; however, this
consumption of alcohol can lead to very negative actions. There was also another theory
proposed that stated that situational disinhibition is a major cause of violence from alcohol
consumption, because people will take part in these violent crimes in order to fit their social role
or simply, to fit in. For example, the relationship between alcohol and spousal violence or
homicide supports this theory.
Another impact of drug use focuses specifically on youth homicide rates. According to
Parker et al., Youth homicides during the 1980s and early 1990s primarily involved firearms
(506). The theory that was associated with this was that the drug sellers became imprisoned, and
they were the adults. Because of this, young, immature sellers stepped up to fill this role in the
crack markets, and didnt know how to properly resolve conflict. Instead of working out their
issues, these youth sellers would resort to violence, and thus, the use of firearms. All of this led
to the homicide epidemic in the 1980s that was linked to crack cocaine use (Parker et al. 506507).
Gang violence also had a large impact on the drug-related homicide rate since gang
members have a high accessibility to illicit drugs and can control the distribution of them, and in
2007, there was the highest estimated number of gang members since before 2000, leading to a
drastic increase in gang violence (Parker et al. 507). Also according to Parker et al.,
Longitudinal studies have documented that youth are more prone to serious and violent offenses
when actively involved with a gang than before or after that affiliation (507). Especially in large
cities where there are many gang members, the youth homicide rate is rising.
There was a study done on homicides in Manhattan throughout the year of 1981. The 578
victims were tested for alcohol and drugs, and most of the drug related homicides were cases

where the victim was a friend or acquaintance of the perpetrator (Tardiff et al. 140). According to
Tardiff et al., alcohol and drugs were frequently found in the blood and other tissues of
homicide victims (141). Almost 30 percent of male and 20 percent of female victims had one
or more drugs in their bodies at the time of death (Tardiff et al. 141). The most common drugs
found in these victims bodies were morphine and other opioids, but cocaine and other sedatives
were also found in some victims. In most of these victims, only one drug was found, but in some
cases, two or three combinations of these drugs were found. This supports the claim that people
that were high were easier targets for perpetrators.
The availability of these illicit drugs has also had a significant impact on their frequency
of being used in violent crimes. According to a study by Fabrizio Sarrica, there is a positive and
direct correlation between the homicide rate and the price of pure heroin. As the price of heroin
decreased, the heroin-related homicide rate increased (Sarrica). Also, Sarrica says:
Moreover, homicides committed without guns, and homicides recorded under the
circumstances of argument, felony, and unknown, as well as for circumstances
defined as others and ethnic-mixed murders, are significantly and positively correlated
with heroin prices.
Sarrica shows that as heroin prices decreased, the rate of drug-related increased, and the rate of
homicides without the use of guns increased as well. This correlation was supported in 16 states
throughout the United States, and is stronger where there is a higher concentration of illicit drugs
(Sarrica). In this study by Sarrica, he concluded that, It can be safely assumed that a reduction
in heroin prices at mid-level distribution recorded between the years of 1987 and 2000, has led to
an average 35% reduction in drug-related homicide rate in the country (408). Mainly in this
study, it was established that heroin was much more of a predictor for homicide than cocaine

was, especially between the years of 1987 and 2000, due to the changing price, which made
these drugs more accessible. The homicide rate drops when heroin is cheaper, so if it were more
easily accessible to addicts, maybe this would help the issue so that they do not have to resort to
violence.
Another drug that has a strong correlation with the homicide rate is alcohol. Alcohol
consumption is a very causal and frequent activity in todays society, so it is no surprise that
alcohol plays a major role in the rate of homicide in the United States. In 1990, there was a study
conducted that investigated several homicide cases and looked specifically at alcohol
consumption. According to Parker et al., The studies found that the percentage of homicide
offenders who were drinking when they committed the offense ranged from 7 to 85 percent, with
most of the studies finding a figure greater than 60 percent. Over half of the offenders for
homicide admitted to having consumed alcohol the day that the crimes were committed. It was
also determined that at least 50 percent of the homicides examined involved drinking by either
the offender or the victim (Parker et al. 508). Alcohol played a major role in the murder of these
victims, whether the alcohol was consumed by the perpetrator or the victim.
Even though there is a strong correlation between the abuse of illicit drugs and the
homicide rate, according to Alfred Blumstein, between 1993 and 2000 the United States
experienced a sharp decline of over 40% in murder and robbery rates (17). Also established in
this study, between the year of 1985 and 1993, the number of 15 year olds involved in homicide
tripled. After 1993, the crime rate, especially the homicide rate began to drop, and there are many
reasons for this. For example, police became more aggressive and involved throughout the US,
and would take a handgun away from someone that was under 18, which was definitely a leading
cause in the reduction of the homicide rate (Brumstein 22). Also, the population became

drastically different because different races of people were moving to America during this time
period, so the changing composition of people could have played a major role in the reduction of
violent crimes like homicide. Since there was such a diversity, there was not as much conflict
because the changing population kept conflict moving. Another contributing factor to the
decrease in murders could have been the large increase of incarceration for people committing
lesser crimes, which would have led to them avoiding larger crimes. As long as these three things
remained true, the rate of homicides in the United States continued to decrease from the years of
1993 and 2000 (Brumstein 22).
One flaw with this study was the rate of incarceration from 1985 to 1993. Throughout
this time period, incarceration rates were extremely high, but unfortunately, so were crime rates
(Brumstein 22). Incarceration during this time was dominated by mostly drug offenses, and
people were incarcerated for simple drug felonies that today would be charged for nothing. Also,
if the drug offender did not get put into prison, there was also a mandatory probation period
added to their offense, so that they could serve their time without physically being incarcerated
(Brumstein 22).
In the late 1980s, crack cocaine became a major drug and was seen more frequently with
the rise of crack markets (Brumstein 26). These crack markets often supplied people,
especially youth with crack cocaine, and would sometimes even give them handguns, so that
they could run the crack market whenever they were needed. When a dispute or a disagreement
arose, it was much easier for the youth to use the weapons they were already armed with than to
use their words to try and settle these disputes. By 1985, the crack market was in full swing, and
arrests for the selling of crack cocaine were very frequent (Brumstein 26). These street markets
that arose and promoted the use of specific drugs were extremely dangerous and led to a

dramatic increase in violent crime rates because of their lack of safety. Rather than settling
disputes, the people that ran these drug markets would settle their disputes with firearms.
There has been a proven correlation between the rate of homicide and the use of illicit
drugs, and this abuse has certainly led to a fluctuation in the homicide rate in the United States
from the 1980s to the present day. Youth homicide has played a major role, as well as gang
violence, and the cases of both of these occurrences has fluctuated throughout history. The use of
heroin, cocaine, and the consumption of alcohol have been major factors in the changing
homicide rates. As these drugs become more accessible to both the youth and the adults, crime
rates have gone up, especially rates of homicide. There has usually been a relationship between
the perpetrator and the victim, and one or not both of these people involved in these cases have
been found to have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident, or
beforehand. Also, the accessibility of these drugs has been a major issue throughout time. The
more accessible that the drug is, the more frequently it will become an issue for homicide cases.
For this reason, alcohol is one of the most common drugs associated with the homicide rates
since the 1980s. Alcohol is the most accessible of all of the illicit drugs, and some people see
alcohol consumption as a social activity. Whether it is one drug or a combination of multiple
drugs, these illicit drugs have played a major role in a lot of cases of homicide throughout
history.

Works Cited
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