Drugs and Cybercrime

“Cyberdrugcrime?”

Illicit Drug Issues

• History and “Drug Panics”• Current Use / Trends• Relationship Between Drug use and Crime • Drug Control Strategy • The Legalization Debate• Theories of Drug Use

What is a “drug?”

• A “psychoactive drug” is one that alters mood, emotion, perception, or other mental states– By that definition: alcohol, caffeine and nicotine

count– Also included are Prozac, Ritalin, Vicodin

• Throw in the “illicit” drugs…– Americans are some fairly serious druggies

A Long History of Substance Use

• The use of chemical substances to “get high” dates back to ancient times– Mesopotamian writings (4,000 years ago) identify opium

as the “plant of joy”– Primitive people during the stone age drank alcohol– South American Indians chewed coca leaves since before

the time of the Incas • Until recently, most drugs legal

– Winston Churchill (1912) used a “cocaine solution”; common “cure all” drugs were opium-based

Criminalization of Drugs• Late 1800s in U.S.

– “Moral Crusaders,” especially religious– Medical field began to suggest morphine and opiates were

“habit-forming” and constituted a “disease” – The “temperance movement”

• Drug Laws– 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act– 1914 Harrison Narcotics Act– 1937 Marijuana Taxation Act

Drug Panics/Scares

• Often precede new criminalization or heightened penalties– Worst-case scenario “typical”

• Methmouth, crack babies…– Tie to “dangerous class”

• Opium—Chinese railroad workers, Crack—inner city blacks, Meth—redneck cocaine

– Media sensationalism and hyperbole• Epidemic, most addictive drug ever, causes other bad

things…

Media Portrayals…now and then

• Harry Anslinger and the Reefer Madness era

• PBS Frontline: The Meth Epidemic

Drug Use / Trends

• Sources:– National Survey on Drug Use and Health

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

• Nationally representative household based (12+ yrs)– Monitoring the Future Survey

• High School based (8-12th grade)

• Limitations of sources?

SAMHSA DATALifetime(2009)

Past Year(2009)

Past Month(2009)

Marijuana and Hashish 41.5 11.3 6.6

Cocaine 14.5 1.9 0.7

Crack 3.3 0.4 0.2

Heroin 1.5 0.2 0.1

Hallucinogens 14.8 1.8 0.5

LSD 9.4 0.3 0.1

Ecstasy 5.7 1.1 0.3

Pain Relievers 13.9 4.9 2.1

Methamphetamine 5.1 0.5 0.2

PER

CEN

T

Use % who used in last 12 months

10 0

8th G rade 10th G rade

80 12th G rade

60

40

20

0

'74 '76 '78 '80 '82 '84 '86 '88 '90 '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10

YEA R

Illicit Drug use and other Crime

• Strong correlation between drug use and crime– Offenders with substance abuse problems commit

a high percent of some crimes • 75% of robberies in one study

– Two-thirds of those jailed test positive for illicit drugs

– Very high correlation (.5-.7) between regular drug use and crime

Relationships Between Drugs and Crime

• Drug-defined offenses– Possession and Sales

• Drug-related offenses– Drug induced rage assault – Rob to feed drug habit

• Drug-using lifestyle– Crimes relevant to “lifestyle” (not cause-effect)

Goldstein’s Models

• How illicit drug use may produce violence– Psychopharmacological model

• A tweaker goes violent b/c of methamphetamine – Economic-compulsive model

• Robbery to keep the party going – Systematic model

• Drug turf battles, robbery of dealers, dealer/client disputes, etc.

– Maahs Reminder Model• Violence and illicit drug use (and property crime) might all be

caused by similar factors.

The “Gateway” issue

• Is weed a “gateway” drug for harder drugs?• Is cigarette smoking a gateway to weed?• Gateway implies causality

– The use of some drug (nicotine, weed) causes use of harder drugs independent of other factors such as peer group, low self-control, lifestyle…

– Is it really the weed that causes people to try crack cocaine or heroin?

• Danger of “DARE” sorts of messages

Which reminds me…

• What have we gotten from the millions of dollars spent on D.A.R.E.? – Some research suggests that for younger students

D.A.R.E. slightly increases respect for police officers

• Why is D.A.R.E. still around? Who benefits from D.A.R.E.?

Drug Control Strategies

• “War on Drugs” = $600 Billion over past 25 years– Source Control– Interdiction– Punishment (Deterrence) – Drug Testing

• Different Approaches– Drug Education (non-D.A.R.E.)– Drug Treatment (California’s Prop 36)– Public Health-Harm Reduction Models

Drug Legalization?

• Pro?– Reduce crime by eliminating “drug-defined crimes”

• Reduce Prison Costs– Reduce violence generated by black market– Reduce police corruption (?)

• Con?– Increased drug use and social costs– Moral costs

• Practical Problems with Legalization– Which drugs? Who sells? Minors?

Drug Treatment

• As with criminal rehabilitation programs, cognitive behavioral programs have a track record of success– Cognitive = skill and restructuring

• The effect of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous is largely unkown– Very resistant to academic research

Drug Courts

• Started in 1989 in Dade County Florida as a reaction to crowded jails/court dockets– Spread like wildfire thereafter

• Key ingredients– Team approach – Judicial involvement in supervision (court reviews)– Strong treatment component– Quick processing

Drug Court II

• Most research has been favorable– Reductions in drug use and other criminal activity

• South St. Louis County (Duluth) MN drug court– Reviewed by one of the best bow hunting

criminologists in the country • Significant reductions in felony offending vs. a

comparison group of people arrested for drug felonies prior to the existence of drug court

Theories of Drug Use?

• Most theories of crime can also explain drug use (social learning, social control, strain, developmental)

• Motivations for drug use?

• Hard drug use and the inner-city

Cyber-Crime

• Crime that occurs over the internet using a computer– Cybermarkets– Fraud– Development of criminal communities

Cyber-Markets

• Piracy– Software, Music, Movies, Television Broadcasts, Books…

• Requires minimal skill, but does entail some risks (viruses, lawsuits, etc.)

• Estimates vary, but roughly 1/3 of Americans report pirating• Higher estimates among youth, especially COLLEGE KIDS! • Music and video piracy appears to be declining…why?

• Beyond pirating—use of legitimate (ebay, Craig's list) and illegitimate sites to engage in crime (sell stolen goods, trade in illicit drugs/sex).

Cyber pornography market• Defining “pornography” has always been problematic• Other major issues

– Access by Minors– Unwanted solicitation– Child pornography

• Federal legislation has had limited success…– Communications Decency act of 1996– Child Online Protection Act (COPA) of 1998– Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) of 2000

Cyber Fraud

• Traditional Fraud Scams– A friend from Nigeria wished to transfer a million dollars

into your account• Phishing and Pharming scams

– Your Ebay account has been compromised!• Hacking• Major concern with many of these techniques is

identity theft– Use your information to take out loans, get credit cards,

etc.

Identity Theft

• The unlawful use of another person’s identifying information – Use of name, DOB, social security number, credit

card number…to commit fraud or other crimes– Internet and information age has made this much

easier

Combating Identity Theft

• State Legislation– “Freeze laws” – stops access to credit reports– Laws to redact fraudulent transactions from credit

reports– Disclosure laws—if your info has been compromised

• New emphasis on information privacy• Risk minimization

– Guard SS# and other private info, look at credit reports, shred sensitive paper, don’t open suspicious email…

Cybercrime Communities

• Anonymity of cyberspace– Deviant Subcultures have arena to share

information and engage in crime• Child Pornography• Drug Distribution