Drugs Prices and Systemic Violence: An Empirical Study

This study proposes an empirical analysis of the relation between the prices of illegal drugs and the use of violence to administrate the markets of illegal drugs. The study hypothesizes that the prices of illegal drugs affect the level of violent crime, since changes in profitability of the drugs’ markets affect the offenders’ expected utility of using violence to operate in these markets. An increase (or decrease) in prices would raise (or reduce) the offenders’ expected utility of making use of violence, for instance, to solve disputes over drugs, to conquer more market shares, to defend ones own market share, in short to make use of systemic violence (Goldstein, P.J. Journal of Drug Issues, 39:143–179, 1985). The study will analyze the relation between the dynamics of cocaine and heroin’s prices and systemic violence in the United States of America and in Europe over two decades. The correlational and inferential analyses do support the hypothesis for certain offenders’ profiles and certain murders’ circumstances.

Does Parolee Drug Testing Influence Employment and Education Outcomes? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment with Noncompliance

Despite the ubiquity of drug testing in criminal justice settings, there is little experimental evidence suggesting that testing reduces drug use or engenders pro-social behavior. This paper estimates the effect of parolee drug testing on labor and education outcomes with data from a randomized experiment involving 1,958 young parolees. It provides the first estimates in the literature suggesting that drug testing with graduated sanctions can improve short-run employment and education outcomes for parolees. After controlling for parole office fixed effects, juvenile criminal history, and a host of other covariates, the analyses suggest that parolees randomly assigned to testing are 6–8 percentage points (∼11%) less likely to be unemployed and not in school for the month following release to parole when compared to those assigned to the no-testing condition. Racially- and ethnically-stratified analyses find that Hispanics assigned to testing are 10–13 percentage points (∼22%) less likely to be unemployed and not in school, while the estimated coefficient for Blacks is statistically insignificant and hovers around zero. Analyses that use instrumental variable techniques to account for noncompliance by parole officers yield local average treatment effects that are almost twice as large as the intention-to-treat effects.

Patterns of Crime and Substance Abuse among Israeli Ex-Addict Female Inmates

The current study examined the relationship between drug addiction and crime involvement among Israeli female prisoners, and further examined the differential contribution of early onset of drug, sexual abuse and poly drug use, to predict involvement in offenses against person. Fifty-four ex-addict female inmates participated in this study. Research findings indicated that a majority began using drugs prior to their involvement in crime and most were convicted of drug-related crimes. In addition, almost half had a history of sexual abuse. Female inmates who were sexually abused were characterized by an early onset of drug and poly drug use. A relationship was observed between poly drug use and offenses against person. Also, the duration of drug abstinence corresponded to a lower sense of coherence and higher level of trait anxiety among female inmates. The implications of these findings for substance abuse treatment are discussed. Gila Chen, PhD, is a lecturer in the Criminology Department at Ashkelon Academic College and Bar-Ilan University. Her academic interests include youth at risk, female offenders, self-help groups, and drug addiction.     

Medical negligence in drug associated deaths

According to epidemiological studies adverse drug events are one of the most frequently encountered complications during medical treatment, a leading cause of hospitalisation and frequent cause of death. However, medical malpractice claims due to medication errors seem to be relatively rare. Based on a retrospective multicentre study on medical malpractice cases with lethal outcome (n = 4450), drug related cases (n = 575) were further evaluated. In 50% of cases a causal connection between drug therapy and death could be ruled out already after autopsy. In 232 cases a causal connection between drug therapy and death could be approved (drug allergies, relative overdose, wrong application, mix-up of drugs and sepsis after injection abscess). However, within the legal context only in 70 cases a medication error was approved which was in 42 cases causal for death, in 28 not. Administration of contraindicated drugs, incorrect application and relative overdose in renal insufficiency are the prevalent mistakes. Concerning the frequency of ADE in epidemiological studies medication errors are underreported in all data sources on medical malpractice; this seems to be due to the fact that even doctors and attending physicians rarely recognize an ADE; furthermore approving the connection between drug effect and death is extremely difficult for the expert witness.     

Federal Family Drug Treatment Courts: Providing Positive Possibilities

Due to the lack of family drug treatment courts, families are often torn apart when a parent has a substance abuse problem. Children of substance abusers are often abused and neglected. However, children in these tough living situations fear seeking help because they do not want to be the reason that their family is torn apart and they are placed in the foster care system. This Note proposes a federal statute that requires all states to implement family drug treatment courts. These courts allow families to stay intact while providing the parent with the help that he or she needs.     

检察院提起公益诉讼面临的困境和推进方向

检察机关提起公益诉讼在我国正在如火如荼地开展,并取得了初步的成效,特别是在生态环境与资源保护以及食品药品安全领域。但由于案件来源受到制约、可诉案件的种类范畴过窄、检察院的调查取证权和调查核实权缺乏明确的法律授权、诉讼中举证责任的分担规则不甚明确、公益诉讼被告不配合或阻挠以及诉讼费用如何分担等问题的存在,司法实践操作中还存在诸多困惑和困难。因此,如何推进检察院的公益诉讼是当前和今后一段时间内检察院面临的一个重要任务,需要理论界和司法实务部门共同探讨对策,尽快完善立法并颁布相应的司法解释,为检察机关公益诉讼的顺利开展提供立法和司法保障。     

毒品案件中共同犯罪的认定

共同犯罪在毒品犯罪案件中尤为突出。实践中,运用共同犯罪的一般理论认定毒品共同犯罪案件时也产生了许多问题。无论是从刑法理论层面还是从司法实践层面,都有必要针对存在的问题进行探讨,通过分析和论证,对当前的司法实践给予启示和指导。     

试论我国毒品犯罪的现状、成因与对策

毒品不仅对人的身体具有极大的危害性,而且严重腐蚀社会的肌体,是社会的一大公害。毒品犯罪,既破坏社会风气,又诱发其他犯罪活动,严重危害社会治安秩序。当前,国际社会普遍加大了对毒品犯罪的打击力度,针对日趋突出的毒品犯罪,我国新刑法对毒品犯罪做出了专节规定,并规定了比较严厉的法定刑。本文结合司法实践,阐述了我国毒品犯罪的现状,分析了毒品犯罪的成因,并就打击毒品犯罪的工作对策进行了思考。     

Family Transitions and Later Delinquency and Drug Use

Changes in the family structure can be very disruptive to adolescents who live in those families. This article examines the impact of the number of family transitions on delinquent and drug-using behavior. Specifically, the effect of family transitions is hypothesized to be mediated by problems within the family, school, and peer settings. A sample of 646 boys (73%) and girls (27%) taken from a longitudinal panel study of high-risk adolescents are used to examine these hypotheses. For girls, little support is found for the direct or the indirect effect of family transitions on delinquent behavior or drug use. For boys, however, both forms of problem behavior are influenced by family transitions directly and indirectly through changes in, and problems with, peer associations. The findings suggest that during times of family turmoil, the friendship network of adolescent male children is also disrupted, leading to an increase in associations with delinquent others and, in turn, an increase in problematic behaviors.

我国禁毒工作必须正视和解决的三大问题

在我国禁毒工作中,必须正视和解决三大问题:一是要完善禁毒工作的方针,二是要抓住禁吸戒毒这个根本,三是要公开堵查毒品。只有这样,才能从根本上解决毒品问题。