Methamphetamine and The Criminal Justice System (Essay)

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Methamphetamine production is a serious crime, punishable by up to Twenty-five years in prison. Thus, the primary cost of methamphetamine to society is corrective detention. Since the application of criminal justice is highly variegated in a Federalist system, this cost can only be estimated as a function of the average local time in penitentiary and probation. In addition, recidivism rates must be determined to derive an expected discounted cost of detention per producer.

Owing to the decentralization of methamphetamine production and distribution, this substance is not really comparable to any other narcotic. In particular, the secondary costs of control and prevention of methamphetamine are grossly disproportionate to the size of the market. The precursor chemicals used to produce methamphetamine are inexpensive, available, and impossible to regulate. Unlike, e.g., cocaine, there are no specific sources or trafficking routes for methamphetamine. Rather, 99% of the widely dispersed clandestine drug laboratories in the United States are geared solely toward methamphetamine production. Thus, the problem of methamphetamine can only be countered by a diffuse network of informants and other policing activities. Methamphetamine control must be planned and budgeted as a distinct apparatus.

“Meth-” dealing organizations are usually local, and indistinguishable from ordinary groups of citizens. Because methamphetamine production is so inexpensive, new potential users are recruited by dumping the substance on the market. Methamphetamine addicts are created by giving the substance away for free in public high schools, clubs, and bars, a tactic that can only be countered with special canine units. Once “locked in” to the use of methamphetamine, the victim is typically recycled as a distributor.

In addition to these direct costs, methamphetamine use spins a web of indirect costs for the criminal justice system. Over one half of all arrestees are drug users, among which methamphetamine users are disproportionately represented among whites. In Omaha, Nebraska, the proportion of all adult male arrestees using methamphetamine increased from 1% to 10% during the period 1990-1998. Rural arrestees in USA are even more likely to be “meth-” users than their urban counterparts. White female arrestees who are drug users are most often methamphetamine addicts. Smith, Galloway and Seymour have shown that alcohol use combines with methamphetamine to create a generalized problem of disorderly conduct, assault, and homicide. The same combination gives rise to numerous instances of impaired and reckless driving

Methamphetamine is a hub of gang related activities. 24.7% of white persons self-classified as “gang members” use methamphetamine, as do 22.9% of their Native American counterparts; in addition, 28% of white gang members and 18.5% of Native American gang members are involved in the distribution of methamphetamine for money. (Implicitly, the white gangs are methamphetamine “exporters, Manufactures” whilst Native American gang members are not self-sufficient in “meth-”.) Considering this level of gang involvement, it is not surprising that, in 1989, over one-ninth of all homicides in San Diego are believed to have been methamphetamine related (Bailey and Shaw (1989)). Naturally, it is impossible to disentangle the homicides caused by drug-induced psychosis, collective pathologies, and market competition. On the contrary, given methamphetamine use and/or sale by participants, such activity can be construed as a blanket cause of gang-related assault and homicide.

Finally, the power of “meth-” dependence—and its disproportionate abuse rate among low income persons—combine to create an indelible incentive to finance addiction by any means necessary. Studying the transient fluctuations of methamphetamine use and property crime in US, using time series methods to show a positive link. Although the study does not incorporate a Granger test, it is difficult to envisage a reverse causality. Given that one accepts the Bliss linkage and its direction, the amount of property crime attributable to methamphetamine must be estimated individually for each community. As an approximation, some constant fraction (consistent with Bliss) of all property crime committed by individuals testing positive for methamphetamine can be attributed to methamphetamine addiction

(Source: Law enforcement and administrative justice: college textbook)

[darawk]

Interesting essay...though I hate how he refers to meth addicts as "victims". As though the dealers were forcing the drug upon them.