Alcohol and other drugs have been associated with over one-third of all arrests in the United States. According to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI), over 1.1 million annual arrests are due to drug violations, 1.4 million arrests are due to DWI s, 480,000 arrests are for liquor law violations, and 704,000 arrests are for drunkenness. That is about 4.3 million arrests for alcohol and drug crimes.

There are many different types of drugs such as cocaine, pot, PCP,

marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin. The NCADI estimated that in 1998,

over 80% of state and federal prisoners were either high at the time they

committed their crimes stole property to buy drugs, violated drug or alcohol laws, or have a history of drug and alcohol abuse. The U.S. Department of Justice said that in 1997, 35% of state and federal prisoners committed their current offense to get money for drugs. It is also estimated that over 5% of homicides were due to the involvement of drugs. The Department of Justice also says that in 1990, over 50% of men and 40% of women were influenced by drugs an arrested for property crimes. Statistics show that illicit drugs are involved in millions of crimes, but alcohol has been shown to be involved in more.

Alcohol has been the cause of over half of the deaths in the Unites States. In 1994, a young man was going to get food for him and a friend one night when a man under the influence of alcohol ran a red light and instantly killed the young man. The young man was a senior in high school and was not intoxicated, but suffered because of the other man s choice to get in a car while drunk. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated in 1994 that alcohol was the cause of death in 45.1% of all fatal automobile crashes. In late 1998 a group of friends were out drinking when a young man who was drunk got into a truck with his girlfriend. The young man drove off into a ditch, flipping the vehicle several times, killing himself and severely injuring his girlfriend. These are just two examples of what drunk driving has done. In 1992, drunk driving claimed the lives of over 17,000 Americans and 1.2 million were injured. In 1993, 40% of the 5,905 traffic fatalities of 15 to 20 year-olds were alcohol related.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National

Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), alcohol has been the cause of

68% manslaughter, 62% of assaults, 54% of murders or attempted murders, 48%

of robberies, and 44% of burglaries. The NIAAA also says that in 1993 alcohol has been the factor in 59% of fatal falls and between 47% and 65% of adult drownings. Fifty percent of all domestic violence has been attributed to alcohol. The Institute for Health Policy estimated that rapes, fights, and assaults leading to injury, manslaughter, and homicide are often caused by the abuse of alcohol. Of those convicted of rape, 42.2% said that they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In 1987, it was reported that 64% of all reported child abuse cases were associated with parental alcohol abuse.

These statistics that have been stated increase with each year. They show that alcohol and drugs are a major influence on crime. Alcohol has been the cause of over half of the deaths in the Unites States and illicit drugs are involved in millions of crimes. With the increase of the statistics, more people are dying, committing crimes, and putting other people s lives at stake with the use of alcohol and other drugs.

Works Cited

Eighth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health, National

Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1993.

National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. web page:

http://www.health.org/pubs/makelink/ml-injur.htm

Institute for Health Policy, Brandeis University, Substance Abuse: The Nation's

Number One Health Problem: Key Indicators for Policy. The Robert Wood

Johnson Foundation, October 1993.

U.S. Department of Justice. web page: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/duc.htm