crime uk essay

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• Published: 09 December 2020

An ethical analysis of UK drug policy as an example of a criminal justice approach to drugs: a commentary on the short film Putting UK Drug Policy into Focus

• Adam Holland   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3617-1966 1  

Harm Reduction Journal volume  17 , Article number:  97 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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Drug-related deaths in the UK are at the highest level on record—the war on drugs has failed. A short film has been produced intended for public and professional audiences featuring academics, representatives of advocacy organisations, police and policymakers outlining the problems with, and highlighting alternative approaches to, UK drug policy. A range of ethical arguments are alluded to, which are distilled here in greater depth for interested viewers and a wider professional and academic readership.

The war on drugs is seemingly driven by the idea that the consumption of illegal drugs is immoral. However, the meaning ascribed to ‘drug’ in the illicit sense encompasses a vast range of substances with different properties that have as much in common with legal drugs as they do with each other. The only property that distinguishes illegal from legal drugs is their legal status, which rather than being based on an assessment of how dangerous they are has been defined by centuries of socio-political idiosyncrasies. The consequences of criminalising people who use drugs often outweigh the risks they face from drug use, and there is not convincing evidence that this prevents wider drug use or drug-related harm. Additionally, punishing someone as a means, to the end of deterring others from drug use, is ethically problematic. Although criminalising the production of harmful drugs may seem more ethically tenable, it has not reduced the supply of drugs and it precludes effective regulation of the market. Other potential policy approaches are highlighted, which would be ethically preferable to existing punitive policy.

It is not possible to eliminate all drug use and associated harms. The current approach is not only ineffective in preventing drug-related harm but itself directly and indirectly causes incalculable harm to those who use drugs and to wider society. For policymakers to gain the mandate to rationalise drug policy, or to be held accountable if they do not, wider engagement with the electorate is required. It is hoped that this film will encourage at least a few to give pause and reflect on how drug policy might be improved.

In the UK, drug-related deaths are at the highest level on record [ 1 ], accounting in 2017 for more than a third of the drug-related deaths in the European Union [ 2 ]. Without the burden of ideology framing its aims in terms of a moral impetus, any other field of public policy similarly marred by failure would be swiftly overhauled. To the readership of this journal the problems with criminal justice focused drug policy, underscored by the rhetoric of the war on drugs may seem so plainly evident that they do not warrant stating. Nonetheless, it persists unabated in the UK and to degrees across the world. The propagation of punitive drug policy may be driven indirectly by the power relations between politicians and the electorate in democratic societies as the incentive of votes, or the threat of their loss, inspires a need to not be seen as being ‘soft on drugs’. Alternatively, it may be driven directly by policymakers; this could be due to their unconscious biases, as it is plainer than ever to see in contemporary politics that power does not preclude politicians from being all too human, or as others have despondently suggested, in some cases this could feasibly represent a conscious effort to further the interests of powerful actors and reinforce socioeconomic inequalities [ 3 ]. Whether the war on drugs is spurred on by one, or by a combination of these factors, to create a more just society it is necessary to engage with the public to highlight the problems with drug policy, particularly given the lack of transparency in much of contemporary political decision-making. Only through a shift in the understanding of the electorate will those in positions of power be given the mandate to rationalise drug policy or be held accountable if they do not.

With that in mind, with borrowed equipment and assistance gratefully received from friends and colleagues, I produced the short film Putting UK Drug Policy into Focus . In the film, the UK situation is used as an example to explore the problems with a criminal justice focused approach to drugs with the optimistic hope that viewers, both national and international, will be motivated to reflect on what a more ethically sound approach would look like. Fourteen stakeholders kindly agreed to be interviewed or to submit footage for the film including academics, representatives of advocacy organisations, police officers and policymakers. Although the film focuses on the UK, some contributors are from further afield as national policy is contingent on international context, and alternative international practice is highlighted. Contemporary arguments in favour of and against maintaining the status quo in drug policy are examined, rather than the antecedents of the current situation as the socio-political context of the past is not a reason to maintain the policy borne from it in the future; socio-political contexts change as does our understanding of the effects of policy decisions.

A range of ethical arguments is alluded to in the film, which are distilled here in greater depth for interested viewers and a wider professional and academic readership. Admittedly, discussion of the idealistic aims of drug policy is unlikely to directly influence those in power [ 4 ] and ethical argumentation alone is not sufficient to change policy; however, it is necessary to ensure the rigorous formulation of imperatives to do so [ 5 ]. Both deontological and consequentialist perspectives are explored. Deontological theories maintain that the rightness or wrongness of acts is determined by the nature of the acts themselves, the duties of those performing them and the rights of those affected. Consequentialist theories on the other hand maintain that the rightness or wrongness of acts is determined by their consequences [ 6 ]. Section one explores and critiques the idea that using those drugs that are illegal is morally wrong and doing so warrants punishment by virtue of its immorality. Sections two and three explore and critique the arguments for criminalising the possession, production and trafficking of drugs. Section four offers reflections on how drug policy in the UK and further afield can and should be modified to avert the ethical issues arising from a criminal justice focused approach.

The immorality of (some) drugs

For some, the impetus for punitive drug policy seemingly emanates from the deontological idea that there is something morally wrong about using those drugs that are illegal and that doing so warrants punishment [ 6 ]. The meaning ascribed to ‘drug’, in the illicit sense, which fuels drug policy discourse and the paradigm of the war on drugs [ 7 ] encompasses a vast range of substances with different effects, used by different groups in different circumstances that have as much in common with each other as they do with many legal substances. In fact, the only defining characteristic shared by those drugs that are illegal, distinguishing them from those that are not, such as alcohol, tobacco or coffee, is precisely that they are illegal. This generates a circular argument: illegal drugs are immoral because they are illegal, and they are illegal because they are immoral. It is this circularity that unfortunately means that the position is as logically unassailable for those who hold it as it is nonsensical for those who do not.

Proponents of the view that drug use is immoral may claim that its immorality stems from its potential to cause harm to a consumer. However, it is not obviously correct to say that the potential for an act to cause harm necessarily makes it immoral. Choosing to go skiing or lighting a campfire, for example, could result in an injury or a burn; however, these acts would not be afforded moral status by virtue of their harming potential alone. On the other hand, forcing someone with no training to ski down a steep mountain or setting them on fire before doing so is clearly ethically problematic. If it is the agency of the subject at risk of suffering harm as a result of an act that determines the morality of that act, then it is not immoral for somebody to voluntarily expose themselves to the risk of harm by using a drug. Contrary to this position, it can be argued that adults have a moral right to do what they want to do to their own bodies, which would include using drugs for recreational purposes [ 8 ]. Even if it was accepted that it was immoral for subjects to put themselves in harm’s way, and that this should determine the legal status of different drugs, this is not reflected in current policy as the legal classification of different drugs is not representative of the relative levels of harm that they are responsible for [ 9 ]. If this position was accepted, there would be profound consequences, not only in terms of the legal status of alcohol and tobacco, but also that of unhealthy foods, extreme sports and driving.

A more compelling argument would be to suggest that buying illegal drugs is morally wrong because it provides funding to criminal organisations thereby facilitating other criminal activities that cause harm to third parties. However, this argument once again leads to circularity as the relationship is contingent on contemporary policy: possessing a drug is illegal because buying it is morally wrong; buying it is morally wrong because it provides funding for organised criminal gangs; it provides funding for organised criminal gangs because they control the market for that drug; and they control the market for that drug because it is illegal to possess it.

The idea that the use of some drugs is immoral, and the war on drugs that emanates from this view is ideological; that is, it can be characterised by a configuration of power leading to the imposition of a set of ideas, which give some particular interests the appearance of being universal [ 10 ]. It is not a natural or inevitable state of affairs that the consumption of particular substances, such as coffee or alcohol is widely accepted, or even encouraged while the consumption of others, such as amphetamines or cannabis apparently justifies stigmatisation and punishment. It is only through the influence of powerful historical actors who served to benefit from the propagation of this view that it is now so widely accepted [ 11 ] and it is far from the case that any benefits from a punitive approach to drugs are shared universally. Without a sustained exertion of power, which is most clearly apparent in the enforcement of punitive drug laws, the incoherence of these distinctions would be more plainly obvious to those subject to that power, as would the dearth of beneficial consequences from the criminalisation of drugs. To divert attention from the incoherence of ideological viewpoints, proponents can direct intent focus on the specifics of the subject matter to inspire an emotive response [ 10 ]. In the case of illicit drugs, this often involves highlighting the harm that drug use causes, which indeed may be profound in some cases. However, as previously noted, potential to cause harm does not in itself obviously imbue an act with moral status and this view does not give credence to a moral distinction between harmful illicit drug use and harmful licit drug use or other potentially harmful activities.

These deontological arguments based on circular reasoning and ideology are not a sufficiently rigorous foundation upon which to base policy decisions. Accordingly, the ethical analysis of drug policy which follows is undertaken primarily through a consequentialist lens; that is, does it reduce harm? However, a further deontological argument will be examined regarding the use of criminal sanctions to deter drug use, which is more robust than those posed against drug use itself.

Criminalising the possession of drugs

When exercising punitive drug laws the use of force may lead to physical and psychological harm; contact with the criminal justice system is associated with a host of health and social inequalities which may be exacerbated by prosecution [ 12 ], and if leading to the deprivation of liberty, this is inherently harmful to the individual who is prevented from doing what they want to do. For this approach to be morally justified in consequentialist terms, it would need to prevent more harm than it causes. Proponents might claim that it results in a net reduction in harm to those being punished as it deters them from using drugs in the future. However, there is not convincing evidence that this is the case and even incarceration is not a reliable deterrent as more than one in four prisoners surveyed in the UK reported drug use in prison [ 13 ].

Regardless, data from the UK suggest that most people who take illicit drugs do not do so regularly [ 14 ] and as risk is cumulative, consumption and harm tend to be correlated [ 15 ]. Therefore, as Professor David Nutt highlights in the film, for the vast majority who use drugs, the negative impact of a criminal record would be much more significant than the negative impacts of continued infrequent drug use. For those who use drugs more frequently and problematically who are at the greatest risk of harm from doing so, use often develops in the context of adverse childhood experiences [ 16 ] and socioeconomic deprivation [ 17 ]. This is highlighted by Andria Efthimiou, who has first-hand experience of heroin use: “I was obviously reacting to … a very difficult childhood of illness that nearly killed me many times; difficult family circumstances, socially, economically; stressed out mother; absent father; and drugs were a great comfort so, having another punisher as it were with the police … what’s the point?” These antecedents of other health and social disadvantages are only exacerbated by contact with the criminal justice system and a criminal record.

Alternatively, proponents of punitive drug laws might argue that the harm they cause to individuals is justified by a net reduction in harm in society overall as others are deterred from drug use. Four challenges to this position follow: first, a direct empirical rebuttal; second, a consequentialist challenge related to the unintended negative impacts of criminalising possession; third, a deontological challenge in regard to the ethically problematic nature of using humans as a means to an end; and fourth, a procedural challenge highlighting the inequitable application of punitive drug laws.

First, there is no clear association between drug policy liberality and drug use prevalence, either contemporaneously across different countries [ 18 ] or subsequently in countries that have changed their drug policy [ 19 , 20 ]. Although it is feasible that punitive laws might reduce drug use in some settings, it is not a necessary condition of doing so as in Portugal the use of some drugs has continued to decrease after possession for personal use was decriminalised [ 21 ].

Second, the application of punitive drug laws may encourage behaviours that increase the risk of harm in the wider drug taking population. Fear of punishment might result in people using drugs in more secretive and riskier ways, for example by taking larger amounts before leaving the house or taking drugs that they bought hastily without examining them [ 22 ]. In addition, they may not as readily engage with harm reduction or treatment services, which would otherwise have mitigated the risks that they are exposed to [ 23 ].

Third, even if there was convincing evidence that the punishment of people who use drugs deterred wider use and did not have unintended negative impacts, it is still a morally problematic approach as illustrated by an event in Voltaire’s Candide. The eponymous protagonist refuses to step foot on English soil after witnessing an admiral being ceremoniously shot in the head. Upon asking why the admiral was executed, the characters are told “in this country we find it pays to shoot an admiral from time to time to encourage the others” [ 24 ]. Voltaire wrote Candide to confront the position of Enlightenment philosophers who argued that everything happens for a reason and that the world is truly as perfect as it would need to be to vindicate their belief in an omnipotent, benevolent god. Contrary to this, Voltaire accused the world of being “a senseless and detestable piece of work” typified by the profound injustice of the execution of the admiral and the rationale that led to it. This is the same rationale that persists in contemporary drug policy: that it is fine to use an individual as a means to an end by making an example of them pour encourager les autres (to encourage the others). When explicitly stated as such, this approach is clearly incompatible with contemporary public health ethical guidelines [ 25 ]; the ‘fundamental British value’ of ‘individual liberty’ taught in schools as directed by the same government that bolsters a criminal justice approach to drugs [ 26 ]; and the writings of the philosophers who laid the foundations of European political thought, such as Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill, who decried the instrumentalisation of human beings [ 27 , 28 ].

Finally, even if punitive drug laws deterred drug use, had no unintended negative consequences, and were otherwise morally justifiable, they are not applied equitably as members of some ethnic minority communities are punished for the possession of drugs disproportionately compared to the amount that they use drugs. This is notably the case in the USA [ 29 ] but also in the UK [ 30 ], persisting as a face of prejudice in a world acutely sensitised to the shadow of racial inequality. If there were benefits from a criminal justice approach to drugs, it would still be ethically problematic that these benefits were contingent on causing harm that was primarily shouldered by specific groups as determined by the colour of their skin.

Criminalising the production and trafficking of drugs

In deontological terms, punishing the production and distribution of harmful drugs might seem more ethically tenable than punishing the possession of drugs for personal consumption. However, on closer examination this too is not straightforward as it is not always clear whether drug market actors are more accurately characterised as perpetrators of crime or victims of extenuating circumstances. In the UK, exploited children and vulnerable adults play a prominent role in the recently identified county-lines drug market model [ 31 ], and internationally, marginalised and deprived communities face significant pressures, financial and otherwise, to produce drugs [ 32 ]. In addition, as was the case when distinguishing between the consumption of legal drugs such as coffee and alcohol and illegal drugs such as amphetamines and cannabis, the distinctions between producing them are nominally legal, beyond which there is not a clear ethical difference. If it is the potentially harmful nature of a product that warrants laws being enacted against its production, then the production of alcohol, tobacco, refined sugar, and cars should similarly be criminalised.

From a consequentialist perspective, proponents of the war on drugs might claim that it reduces drug-related harm as the seizure and destruction of drugs prevents their consumption and the punishment of producers and traffickers deters others from entering the market thereby further reducing drug availability. Four consequentialist challenges to this position follow: first, a direct empirical rebuttal; second, related to the unintended corollary of increasing innovation; third, highlighting the harm caused to third parties; and fourth, highlighting the preclusion of more refined regulation of the market.

First, as former undercover police officer Neil Woods highlights in the film, the ninth principle of British policing states that the test of police efficiency is not evidence of police action, but the absence of crime [ 33 ]. If the global illicit drug market is considered in criminal terms, domestic and international policing efforts have categorically failed this test. Although vast amounts of money and effort have been devoted to combating the illicit drug trade, the market continues to grow [ 34 ] with the short-term impacts of interdiction proving as unsustainable as decapitating one head of the proverbial hydra. The astronomical profit margins available to drug traffickers mean that the cost of drug seizures can easily be absorbed as a ‘tax’ on their operations [ 35 ] and marginalised drug producing communities can be incentivised to continue production in spite of efforts to deter them from doing so [ 32 ].

Second, efforts to stop the production and distribution of drugs promote innovation, which can exacerbate and lead to new types of harm. For example, new drugs are developed to circumvent existing detection methods and legislation [ 36 ]; in the last 2 decades, more than 670 new psychoactive substances have appeared on the European drug market [ 37 ], for most of which very little is known about in terms of their health impacts or how to mitigate them [ 38 ]. And new means of distribution are devised to avoid enforcement efforts; in the case of the darknet, this has made drugs more readily available [ 39 ]; and in the case of the UK county lines phenomenon, this has promoted new forms of criminality and exploitation [ 31 ].

Third, in some cases, efforts to combat the drug trade can cause harm to third parties as communities and the environment become collateral damage caught in the crossfire of the war on drugs. In Colombia, for example, swathes of the country have been fumigated to destroy coca crops [ 40 ]; a practice some commentators have argued was in contravention of international humanitarian law [ 41 ]. Fumigation was stopped in 2015 after the World Health Organisation declared that the chemicals being used were probably carcinogenic [ 42 ]; however, it looks likely to recommence in the foreseeable future following pressure from the Trump administration [ 43 ].

Finally, the illegality of drug production precludes governmental regulation of the market or enforcement of standards of production to reduce harm. Variable drug purity [ 44 ] and the adulteration of drugs with stronger and more harmful substances, particularly the adulteration of heroin with fentanyl analogues in the USA [ 45 ], have been identified as key factors contributing to increasing drug-related death rates. In addition, the government cannot financially regulate an illegal market. In 2017, in the European Union alone, the illegal drug market was estimated to be worth between 26 and 34 billion euros [ 46 ]. This money, which would otherwise need to be accounted for and could be taxed, may be used to fund harmful activities, including other forms of organised crime and exploitation [ 47 ] and potentially terrorism [ 48 ].

Ethical imperatives for drug policy

There is increasing political and academic support for countries to follow in the footsteps of Portugal and decriminalise the possession of drugs for personal use. This includes recommendations from the United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination [ 49 ], a 2019 UK House of Commons Select Committee on Drug Policy [ 50 ], the Royal Society of Public Health [ 51 ], the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police [ 52 ] and the Lancet Commission on Drug Policy and Health [ 23 ]. Thus far, however, in the UK at least there seems to be little impetus for change.

Although the decriminalisation of the possession of drugs would be a step in the right direction, it does not confront the problems related to the unregulated nature of the criminal drug market. The legal regulation of all drugs would be more congruent, not only with the approach taken with drugs that are currently legal including alcohol and tobacco, but also with other products capable of causing harm, such as refined sugar and machinery. This is not to suggest that current models of regulation for legal products are necessarily correct and research on the commercial determinants of health highlights the need to approach questions of regulation extremely carefully [ 53 ]. A future in which all drugs are legally regulated is difficult to imagine; however, the prospect becomes more palatable when considering that opioid substitution and heroin-assisted therapy are essentially highly regulated markets for drugs, with convincing evidence in their favour that they reduce harm to individuals and wider society following reductions in acquisitive crime [ 54 , 55 ].

The legal status of drugs should not be the crux of the drug policy debate; rather, the key consideration should be how to mitigate the harm they cause, which crucially means minimising the unbridled opportunity for drug market actors to profit from their sale. Neoliberal tendencies can be seen in the marketing practices of both the legal and illegal markets for drugs, which disregard the health and well-being of consumers for want of profit [ 31 , 53 ]. Close regulation is required to ensure that if it was possible to make any profit from drugs, this is subsidiary to reducing the risk of harm and the prevalence of problematic use and dependence. This would include exerting control over how drugs are produced and who can buy them, where, when and with what caveats, as well as prohibiting marketing intended to widen the market. If the intention of regulating the drug market was to reduce the risk of harm and problematic drug use, this would clearly not be compatible with the institution of a free market for drugs, or for example, adverts for cocaine at the cinema. Equally, however, it does not necessarily mean that all those drugs that are currently illegal should only be accessible with a prescription as methadone is in the case of opioid substitution therapy. As one interviewee said in confidence, the key question is not whether illicit drugs should be legally regulated, but how . The regulation of different drugs should reflect the not so subtle differences between them; however, the global push to develop policies along the lines of the Psychoactive Substances Act in the UK, which prohibits the sale of any substances nebulously defined as ‘psychoactive’ aside from those arbitrarily exempted [ 56 ], further homogenises the management of a plethora of substances, which are defined by their granularity.

While a significant reprioritisation of drug policy in the UK is unlikely in the foreseeable future, more could be done to reduce the burden of drug-related harm without a drastic change in legislation. There is convincing evidence that drug treatment and harm reduction interventions including needle and syringe programmes are cost-effective investments that not only reduce harm, but also can lead to savings across many health, social and criminal justice services [ 57 , 58 ]. Despite this, drug treatment budgets in the UK have decreased by nearly 30% in recent years [ 50 ], and although numbers in treatment increased slightly in 2018/19, this follows a consistent fall since 2013 [ 59 ].

The harm reduction movement, which promotes the provision of interventions that reduce the risk that people are exposed to when they choose to use drugs, while admitting that it is not possible to eliminate all drug use [ 60 ] offers a practical conception of consequentialist ethical theory [ 6 ]. However, unfortunately, the concept of harm reduction is misted in controversy, which seems to stem from the flawed position tackled in section one of this article: that the use of some arbitrarily defined substances is immoral. Alternatively, critics might be allowing for the perfect to be the enemy of the good by holding out for the cessation of all drug use, which induction would suggest is an unrealistic goal judging by the ineffectual decades spent waging the war on drugs. Relatively minor tweaks to policy would allow the provision of other harm reduction interventions with promising evidence in their favour, which are currently prohibited under the auspices of UK legislation.  For example, the Home Office has repeatedly refused calls to allow the provision of crack pipes by drug treatment services, which would be particularly pertinent in the current climate to minimise the transmission of COVID-19 as well as providing a means of engagement with people who use crack cocaine [ 61 ]. And despite the successful implementation of drug consumption rooms in other European countries [ 62 ], multiple calls to allow them to be opened in the UK have been rejected [ 63 ].

None of these measures—the harm reduction movement, decriminalisation of the possession of drugs, or the regulation of the drug market—is a panacea, and even together they would not eliminate drug-related harm. However, neither will an ideological war on drugs, which is itself directly and indirectly responsible for incalculable harm to the significant proportion of the population who use drugs and to wider society. Some level of drug use and drug-related harm is as inevitable in the future as it has been present for millennia. Hopefully, one day this will be accepted by policymakers, and the vast resources spent waging the war on drugs will be redirected to reducing harm, rather than propagating it. Not only will the rights of those who use drugs need to be taken into account, but also the rights of the marginalised communities compelled to produce and distribute them if there is any hope of realising the optimistic future for all outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The magnitude of the cultural gestalt switch and the level of international collaboration required for this to happen cannot be underestimated, and a future in which the war on drugs has ended is far from being realised. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that unprecedented policy change is possible in the face of overwhelming need. Although for most, the need for a change in drug policy is not as immediately tangible, from the perspective of those affected by the war on drugs, an overwhelming need is exactly what is faced. It should once again be stressed, however, that although rapid change is indicated in light of the many ethical problems arising from contemporary drug policy, extremely careful planning is required to mitigate the risk of unintended negative consequences, particularly in terms of the potential influence of actors who may wish to profit from the market. And, as the Lancet Commission on the legal determinants of health highlights, ongoing analysis is needed to ascertain how the law affects health, with the evaluation of new legislation, and consideration of its revision or repealment being as important, if not more so, than its drafting and enactment [ 64 ].

Although it is seemingly unlikely that the UK will spearhead a global rationalisation of drug policy, it is not beyond the realms of possibility following the sensible conclusions of the 2019 House of Commons Select Committee on Drug Policy [ 50 ]. Their initial report concluded that “UK drugs policy is failing” and among other things highlighted the potential benefits of decriminalising the possession of drugs, changing legislation to allow the opening of drug consumption rooms and increasing the provision of harm reduction interventions that are not widely available in the UK such as drug checking services and heroin assisted therapy.

For political actors to gain the mandate for change, however, it is necessary for the electorate to have a greater understanding of the intricacies of the issue, immeasurably more complex than a metaphorical understanding of drugs as an enemy that needs to be fought. Perhaps this is unrealistically optimistic; however, nothing has been achieved without optimism, and it is hoped that this short film might cause at least a few to give pause and reflect.

Link to film

The short film  Putting UK Drug Policy into Focus  is available at the following link. It is indended to be used for educational purposes and as a tool for engaging with the public, policymakers and other professional groups. No permission is required to screen or share the film. A shorter version, and a recording of the webinar at which the film was launched at the 2020 European Harm Reduction Conference are available on the YouTube channel 'Drug Policy in Focus'.  https://www.drugscience.org.uk/uk-drug-policy-focus/ .

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

Coronavirus Disease 2019

United Kingdom

United States of America

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Acknowledgements

An enormous thank you to: those who feature in the film, discussions with whom provided inspiration for this manuscript; Professor John Coggon for his invaluable and detailed comments on earlier drafts; Dr Jason Horsley for his thoughts on the incompatibility of drug policy with ‘fundamental British values’; and Professor Nick Crofts for his knowledge of Voltaire.

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Holland, A. An ethical analysis of UK drug policy as an example of a criminal justice approach to drugs: a commentary on the short film Putting UK Drug Policy into Focus . Harm Reduct J 17 , 97 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-020-00434-8

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Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World Essay

Introduction, causes of youth crime, consequences of youth crime, preventive measures to be taken in regard to youth crime, works cited, annotated bibliography.

Youth crime has become a major issue of concern worldwide because most youths have been indulging in crimes at very high rates. This has raised the need to take some steps in an effort to either minimize or avoid the involvement of youths in criminal activities. Youth crime also referred to as juvenile delinquency entails some abnormality in the youths’ behaviour in regard to societal or even legal expectations.

There are many factors that are considered to facilitate indulgence in crime by the youths for instance poor up bringing, poverty and unemployment, lack of education and peer pressure among others. This research paper will look into the various aspects that are associated with youth crime for example the causes, the delinquent behaviours involved, and the preventive measures undertaken to handle the delinquencies.

There is no distinct factor that can be pin pointed as the root cause of youth crime. This is because youths engage in criminal activities as a result of the different situations that they face in life. The situations could be as a result of either social, economic, cultural or even family problems.

Different economic, social and cultural conditions in different countries causes the difference in the causes although some common causes can be drawn since all hail from family relationships, the social environment and the economic situation surrounding the youths.

The relationships that exist in the families of the youths could facilitate the indulgence in criminal activities for example when the parents are involved in crime, when there is poor parental guidance and supervision, in case of neglect and isolation or harsh treatment by parents hence the development of defiant behaviour, where there exist family conflicts and the youths feel overburdened, ineffective or lack of communication between the parents and the children hence lack of forum for discussing the problems that the youths could be having, disrespect and irresponsible behaviour among family members that may make the youths take it as a normality, family break-ups and violence among others.

An economic condition on the other hand entails aspects like the political situations surrounding the youths, poverty and unemployment among other aspects (Western, Lynch and Oquilvie 45). The political situation in a nation may also lead to indulgence in crime by the youths for example in instances where there is political instability, the youths may tend to look for means through which to secure a better future hence engaging in criminal activities in search of a livelihood.

Lack of employment opportunities for the youths is also a major contributing factor towards delinquency. Some of the youths have got education but lack employment chances making them hopeless and susceptible to anything that may come their way, crime being one of them as they try to survive and establish a source of living.

Poverty and inequality also contributes to criminal activities. This is because no one is ready to accept living in poor conditions especially where others have better living conditions. As the youths tend to move away from the poverty situations they find themselves engaging in criminal ventures in an effort to make life favourable and comfortable.

The social conditions that may facilitate the indulgence in criminal activities by the youths include inequalities in terms of services provision and power sharing, poor or lack of leadership in the societies hence loss of focus among the youths, discrimination among the youths, peer pressure and influence of the media for instance where the media portrays violence and crime to be prestigious making the youths to emulate people involved in crime among others. It is therefore evident that to prevent crime, the above named causes should be dealt with from the roots (McCord et al 25).

There are numerous consequences that are associated with youth crime. The crimes affect not only those undertaking it but also the society at large. This is because of the uncertainty linked with the criminal activities which leads to tension and anxiety among the society members as they don’t know what may happen to them.

The crime may also be dangerous to the youths themselves for instance the abuse of drugs and other substances may lead to deterioration of their health, they may also be physically injured in the event of perpetrating the criminal activities and more so, they may get themselves behind bars facing legal sentences once they are convicted for the crimes committed hence suffering from lack of freedom and harsh treatment (Elliot, Huizinga, and Menard 29).

Since the problem of youth crime is real and in existence, there is need to establish some measures aimed at reducing or avoiding the chances of engaging in crimes by the youths. A good approach is however the identification of the root causes of the crimes and dealing with them appropriately.

The measures include reduction of inequality and poverty levels among communities. This could be achieved through aspects like effective taxation that ensures that the well-up people are able to support the less fortunate through the taxes hence reducing the inequality. Poverty can also be reduced through provision of employment opportunities and increasing the minimum earnings.

This will in the long run reduce the chances of the youths’ indulgence in crime as they will be involved in more productive activities in the economy. Reduction of the availability of drugs and other substances is also a recommended step as it reduces the number of youths who can access them hence avoiding their abuse (Blyth and Solomon 2).

Another effective method that could be applied is the youth awareness programmes for instance on the importance of education and general positive living. Education should also be made affordable to the majority including the poor as education enhances an individual’s well being in terms of decision making and making choices as well as increasing the possibilities of securing job opportunities hence have a stable source of earning.

There should also be efforts to reinforce the law enforcement strategies with an aim of reducing chances of crime as the youths caught committing crimes are sentenced hence serving as examples to the others who may think of indulging in crime. Corruption is a contributing force towards crime execution of since the offenders feel free to commit the crimes without minding the consequences as they know they can bribe the law enforcers and get away with it.

Reduction of the corruption will in return result to reduction of crime rates as the youths will be held responsible for their criminal activities and hence they will tend to avoid it. These preventive measures among others will help reduce crime rates through dealing with the root causes of the crimes (Muhammad 9).

It is evident that youth crime is a problem in most countries as young people are increasingly getting involved in criminal activities. The problem however lies in the establishment of the main causes of crime youth but once this is clear, the problem can be dealt with appropriately through prevention of its crimes rather than waiting for its occurrence and intervening since this is much more tasking and entails aspects like rehabilitation which can be avoided through prevention.

Blyth, Maggie and Solomon, Enver. Prevention and Youth Crime: Is Early Intervention Working? United Kingdom: The Policy Press, 2009.

Elliot, S. Delbert, Huizinga, David and Menard, Scott. Multiple Problem Youth: Delinquency, Substance Use and Mental Health Problems. Springer: New York, 2009.

McCord, Joan et al. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice . USA: National Academies Press, 2001.

Muhammad, Ali. “ Youth Crime: Causes and Remedies ”. Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA), Paper No. 17223, 2008. Web.

Western, Stuart John, Lynch, Mark and Oquilvie, Emma. Understanding Youth Crime: An Australian Study . USA: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2003.

The following are the additional sources to be included in the annotated bibliography.

This book is very essential in this study as it gives an insight to the prevention of youth crime. It specifically touches on the importance of prevention rather than cure in regard to any given problem and in this case the authors give the benefits accrued to the prevention process as opposed to the cure. It focuses on the need for early intervention programmes that should be put in place in an effort to preventing the young children and the youths from engaging in criminal activities.

It is a book that incorporates contributions from various experts in their effort to examine critically the government policy in relation to early intervention programmes, which are directed towards supporting families and preventing young children and youths from being involved in crime. It generally looks into the effectiveness of early intervention as a measure towards preventing youth crime.

This book has combined efforts of different authors to bring about an understanding of why the young people decide to turn into delinquent acts. The book specifically looks into the patterns of crimes undertaken by children and youth offenders. It gives a detailed insight into the contributing factors for instance parental care, peer pressure and how the society influences this.

Apart from the reasons for indulgence of the youths in crime, the book highlights some of the solutions to youth crime for instance the interventions to be implemented in the juvenile justice system, the part played by law enforcers and other preventive measures.

Muhammad, Ali. “Youth Crime: Causes and Remedies”. Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA) , Paper No. 17223, 2008. Web.

This is a very informative research paper as it covers a wide range of aspects in regard to the topic of study, Youth Crime. It gives in depth details in relation to the factors that may facilitate the youths’ indulgence to various criminal activities and the consequences associated with the involvement of the youths in criminal activities including those faced by the offenders themselves and the society at large.

Apart from the causes and effects of youth crime, the author recognizes the fact that the ordeal of crime is in existence and more so it is in the rise and therefore outlines in details the appropriate measures that should be adhered to in an effort to preventing and avoiding the engagement of the youths in criminal activities emphasizing that dealing with the root causes is very crucial in preventing youth crime.

Scott, S. Elizabeth and Steinberg, Laurence. Adolescent Development and the Regulation of Youth Crime. The Future of children, volume 18, Number 2, fall 2008, pp. 15 – 33.

This journal article explores the changes that have taken place in the conception of the law over the past years. The authors shows of how the youth offenders were initially treated, the same way as adults, which is not right as the youths are quite different from the adults for instance in terms of the offences they commit and the punishment they can stand.

The laws to be adopted for instance emphasizes on the application of aspects like rehabilitation as corrective measures as opposed to punishment which is employed in case of the adult offenders. It calls for attention to the application of the juvenile justice system to the delinquents as opposed to subjections to the adult courts.

Western, Stuart John, Lynch, Mark and Oquilvie, Emma. Understanding Youth Crime: An Australian Study. USA: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2003.

The authors in this book give some good and educative information that can assist us in understanding the general overview of the aspect of youth crime. Although the case study is in the Australian population, it gives the idea of the relationship between the youths and crime. According to this book, the youths are in their transitional process from childhood to adulthood and they are susceptible to numerous troubles including criminal activities.

The book focuses on an Australian study that was carried out to determine the major social factors that are deemed to have some impacts on the general lives of young people. The study was conducted on 1,300 youths which is a total representative sample and from this a general overview is drawn which enriches our understanding of youth criminality.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, October 31). Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World. https://ivypanda.com/essays/youth-crime/

"Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World." IvyPanda , 31 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/youth-crime/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World'. 31 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/youth-crime/.

1. IvyPanda . "Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/youth-crime/.

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IvyPanda . "Youth Crime as a Major Issue in the World." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/youth-crime/.

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Knife Crime Is a Big Problem in the UK

The following sample essay focuses on a big problem in the UK – knife crime. Read the introduction, body and conclusion of the essay, scroll down.

Knife crime is a big issue in the UK: many people have lost their lives in knife stabbing with some survivor but who has been left disabled or with big scars on their body. Last year 900 serious crimes were recorded in Merseyside. When we look at the statistics of knife crime in the United Kingdom it compared to other crimes it is stressful.

In 2011 33,000 knife crimes were recorded; this number went up to 40.000 in 2018, year ending in March each. The Home Office records in 2017 that knife and sharp instrument are used in 30% of Homicide; around 20% of perpetrators of knife crimes are aged between 10 and 17 and 70% are over 18years old. When they analyzed crime by Region for the year ending in March 2017, they found out that London took the lead with140 knife offenses over a population of 100,000 followed by the West Midlands 65, the Yorkshire and Humber 55and the Northwest in the fourth position with 50 knife crimes over 100.

000 population. When we look at the criminal Justice system statistics, people sentenced to over six months in prison went up from27% year ending in June 2009 to 40% in 2018, sentences between three and 6 months went up as well from 32% in 2009 to 42% In 20018, while the those of three months and less went down from 43% in 2009 to19% in 2018. Despite the high number of death in knife attack, the Home office source on what kind of crimes are knives use for’ showed that 47% of them are Assault, 43% for robbery, 17% for treat to kill, 2% attempt to kill and another2% for rape and or sexual assault.

Proficient in: Criminal Justice

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The Home Office noted that the Stop and search in England and Wales has dramatically dropped from 1200,000 2009/2010 to 240,000 in 2017/2018. Criminologists have tried to look at this problem and have expressed different views in the effort to assist in finding solutions. Left realist such as John Lea, jock Young, and Roger Matthews agreed with Marx that Capitalism pushes young people into delinquency. However, they turned to call Marx an idealist because he just concentrated on talking about causes of crime without providing any real example solutions to the problem. For them describing crime and causes with no contribution to its elimination or reduction does not change the situation. They were looking for methods and practical ways to tackle it instead. The left realist criminologists stressed that relative deprivation where people become aware of the gap between them and the rich ones is one of the causes of delinquency. When individuals are locked into poverty and the social mobility to access the higher class in blocked, they tend to seek success in the opposite way. Therefore they become unhappy with no hope for progress in normal life and decide to orient their energy and ambition into crime. They find easy to integrate into criminals groups because they might have the same frustrations. Then their victims are the poor deprived economically, socially and politically living in the inner city mostly in very poor housing area because the rich are protected enough; living in residential Area with great security that block criminals access. Criminals such knife criminals are originally part of the wider community but once they are marginalized their expectations are turned down, the only option left to them would create subcultures groups because their subscription to the dominant value of their community was blocked: this means there no possibility to be part of the normal society. The only option left to them would be to integrate a different type of community where they can be accepted.

Those people mostly young would tend to find another way to succeed by joining offenders or gangs subcultures such as knife criminals. For example, some youth criminals go into substances misuses, some of them can combine this with knife crime as taking drugs would drive them made making easier for them to afford to stab their victims. Steve Hall argued that some people are grown in such social conditions where they are “denied love, rights and self-esteem”. They accumulate frustrations and anger that turn them into criminals. He recommended the Criminologists to look at the fact that “some people are labeled criminals, not others than focussing on the characteristics that distinguish criminals from non criminals”. Another problem is the reaction to crime: that is defined as “the social process characterizing media, public, political and criminal justice responses to crime and deviancy. The response often stereotype, stigmatize, label, criminalize, scapegoat and/or amplify the behavior of certain individuals and groups”(Mc Laughlin; E. Muncie; J …page 407). ” Moral panics about street crime are engineered to justify harsh and authoritarian laws; a criminal justice system is a tool used for the purpose of maintaining ‘the statiquo’ serves and protect only the interests of the powerful members of the society”. (Steve Hall, 2012 Page 109). On symbolic interaction side, some individuals who failed to integrate into the society try to find a group to belong to: they are not part of the normal society so better join a different community or subculture that being nowhere at all. They then find meanings outside in different groups of deviants. ( Steve, 2012, page108).Marx, Engels, and Durkheim agreed that crime was nothing than a symptom of the decline of social solidarity and can go down when the social solidarity improves. ( Lilly; R. Cullen; F, T. Ball; R, A. 2015. page177).

Charles Murray(1990) brought in a slightly new idea in the right realism; he claimed that there is a new group of young people who are not interested in working, claiming benefits, moving from one partner to another easily as they take no responsibility don’t contribute to the education of their children or simply abandon them to their mums. Those children brought up in such situation are suffering from lack of proper socialization; single mothers might not be able to teach them the norms values of the wider society, for example, boys would lack the male role model to follow and all that are problems that lead to children developing or joining existing offenders group. Grown with no respect no values of the norms, beliefs and rules of the community, they would themselves be more likely to follows their parents’ footsteps into belonging to the underclass. However, both right and Left realism agree on the fact that crimes including knife crime are a big problem that needs to be addressed. The underclass generation tend are more likely to be isolated, established in their behaviour and their victims are the poorer and powerless member for the community. Some criminologist such as Wilson and Herrnstein believe that crime emerges from society. So Wilson blamed socialization for not taking seriously the socialization of children into values and norms of the society from an early age.

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