Rethinking on Drug Abuse and Crime Relationship: An Alternative Explanation for Intellectuals Criminologists

Abstract

According to the literature on the drug-crime link, there is relationship between abusing drugs and
involvement criminal activities. A growing number of literature and empirical research have documented
that relationships exists between drug abuse and criminal offences. Through studying a selected sample of
three hundred institutionalised drug addicts [inmates] with and without criminal history from two
government drug rehabilitation centres in Penang, Malaysia, findings from an empirical research affirmed
that indeed relationships exist between drug abuse and involvement in criminal offences. The result of the
study reveals that is not in all situation abusers of drugs get involved in criminal activities, even in situation
where they do so, abusing the drug alone is inappropriate in justifying their attitudes. In addition to
abusing drugs other micro and macro factors should be put in place for proper understanding of their
criminal offences.