Substance Abuse & Crime
In 2005, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports estimated that there were 1,846,400 state and local arrests for drug abuse in the United States. According to BJS statistics, in 2004, 17 percent of state prisoners and 18 percent of federal inmates said they committed their current offense to obtain money for drugs. The link between drug use and crime has been well-documented in recent years. Many organizations and government offices, including OJP, are working to reduce substance abuse in communities across the country. In FY 2008, the federal government requested $12.9 billion to reduce drug use.
At OJP, all of the grant-making components are in some way involved in weakening the link between substance abuse and crime. They are involved in many collaborative efforts to address this problem, as it affects areas ranging from housing and work life to families and health. Examples of these collaborations can be found in the OJP programs listed below. In addition, because of the cross-cutting nature of the problem, other OJP programs such as Weed and Seed address substance abuse and crime, but are not included in this chapter because that is not the primary objective of the program.
Funding Opportunities
- Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program
- Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws
- Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program
- Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs
- Research, Development and Evaluation (National Institute of Justice)
- Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Program
Publications
- Research, Development and Evaluation Projects related to Drugs and Crime (National Institute of Justice)
- Research, Development and Evaluation Projects related to Drug Courts (National Institute of Justice)
Resources
- Drug Court Planning Initiative
- Drugs and Crime Research Topical Pages (National Institute of Justice)
- Drug Topical Pages (National Institute of Justice)
- MethResources.gov
- Research to Practice Initiative (Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of Justice)