Narcotics and Crime

(Source: The Rise of Crime in Malaysia; An Academic and Statistical Analysis, of the Kuala Lumpur Royal Malaysia Police College, No. 4, 2005)

Narcotics abuse by individuals has a correlation to the commission of
crime. A local study by Gan Kong Meng61 has shown that drug abuse by
individuals is closely related to property crime. These crimes were further
attributed to sustain their drug abuse affliction. Their involvement in
crime, as shown by Haris Wong in a study conducted on inmates at
Rehabilitation Centers, revealed that 74 % of them went on to commit
crimes to sustain their habits. The other 26 % could sustain their drug problems without committing crimes. Of those who committed crimes the vast majority ( 70 % ) committed property crimes to sustain their habit. The rest committed violent crimes.

Having shown the affinity of drug abusers to crime, the statistics of
the number of registered drug abusers in this country which amounts to
38,67263 is quite daunting if we follow the finding above by Haris Wong that
74 % of them will commit crime to sustain their habits.