EXPENSIVE DRUG USE AND ILLEGAL INCOME: A TEST OF EXPLANATORY HYPOTHESES*

Although the empirical association of heroin use and income-generating crime is well established in past research, the magnitude of the association after control of other factors such as legal income is not known. The relationship between the use of cocaine and income-generating crime has not received adequate attention. Moreover, the explanatory basis for the expensive drug use/income-generating crime association is not well understood. This article tests the robustness of the heroin use/income-generating crime relationship and examines the same question for cocaine use. Hypotheses derived from two explanatory perspectives (the compulsion/demand and life-style models) are tested. Data were collected from more than 3,500 individuals who were interviewed at the time they entered publicly funded drug abuse treatment programs in 1979. Regression analyses show that daily use of heroin and weekly and daily use of cocaine are strongly associated with illegal income. Theoretical interpretation of the findings suggest: (1) the addiction/compulsion explanatory model is an insufficient explanation, (2) the life-style concept is useful for understanding the expensive drug use/income-generating crime relationship, and (3) the concept of addiction needs refinement and elaboration.