Hunt D
Abt Associates Inc., Cambridge, MA 02138.
NIDA Res Monogr. 1991;110:139-50.
A common thread in all studies of this nature is the level of use of cocaine and/or the concomitant use of other drugs, suggesting that economic necessity plays a role in the decision to commit crimes to help defray the costs of use. While a truly causal link between use and crime activity in marginal income populations is apparent. Whether that association is driven primarily by economics or lifestyle considerations is not answered by simple examination of the numbers. Statistically, the use of cocaine is related to criminal activity as a function of the income level and prior criminal experience of the user. This relationship is better defined by looking at the threshold effect in marginal income groups, where use that goes beyond what the pocket can bear produces a significantly greater chance that illegal sources will be found. However, many occasional users or even regular users with resources are able to fund their use through routine sources and never resort to criminal activity or to unconventional financial resources. A large number of cocaine users probably fall into this middle ground: they are neither the "high rollers" that often make the media nor the traditional heroin/cocaine addicts. For them, criminal activity may surface when use exceeds funds or not at all. For still others, cocaine is part of a criminal lifestyle rather than a motivation for it. Statistically, all these cocaine users look the same, though the relationship between their use and their crime may be quite varied. The descriptions of three cases discussed in an earlier paper (Hunt et al. 1985) clarify this point. The first case was a 32-year-old white male former heroin addict and former drug dealer who reported cocaine use intravenously three to four times a month, smoked marijuana weekly, and used no other drugs. He was married, working, and had a small child. He also reported dealing in stolen merchandise and clothing that he got from someone else to sell. This pattern had been his custom for several years, observed at close hand by the author, and he had not been arrested for many years, though he had a prior history of arrests dating back more than 15 years. This individual did not link his selling stolen merchandise with his cocaine use. He linked it with the need for supplementary funds and was as likely to deal goods for Christmas money as for cocaine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
所有这类研究的一个共同主题是可卡因的使用程度和/或其他药物的同时使用，这表明经济需求在决定实施犯罪以帮助支付使用成本方面起到了作用。虽然在低收入人群中，使用毒品与犯罪活动之间存在明显的因果关系。但这种关联主要是由经济因素还是生活方式因素驱动，仅通过简单查看数据并不能得出答案。从统计学角度来看，可卡因的使用与犯罪活动相关，这是使用者收入水平和先前犯罪经历的一个函数。通过观察低收入群体中的阈值效应，可以更好地定义这种关系，即超出经济承受能力的使用会显著增加找到非法资金来源的可能性。然而，许多偶尔使用毒品的人，甚至是有经济来源的经常使用者，能够通过常规途径为其毒品使用提供资金，从不诉诸犯罪活动或非常规的资金来源。大量可卡因使用者可能处于这两者之间：他们既不是那些常被媒体报道的“大手大脚花钱的人”，也不是传统的海洛因/可卡因成瘾者。对他们来说，当毒品使用超出资金承受能力时，犯罪活动可能就会出现，或者根本不会出现。对另一些人来说，可卡因是犯罪生活方式的一部分，而不是犯罪的动机。从统计学角度来看，所有这些可卡因使用者看起来都一样，尽管他们的毒品使用与犯罪之间的关系可能大不相同。早期一篇论文（亨特等人，1985年）中讨论的三个案例描述阐明了这一点。第一个案例是一名32岁的白人男性，曾是海洛因成瘾者和毒贩，他报告说每月静脉注射可卡因三到四次，每周吸食大麻，不使用其他毒品。他已婚，有工作，还有一个小孩。他还报告说从事贩卖从他人那里得到的被盗商品和衣物的活动。这种模式是他多年来的习惯，作者曾亲眼观察到，尽管他有超过15年的被捕前科，但多年来他一直没有被捕。这个人并没有将贩卖被盗商品与他使用可卡因联系起来。他将其与需要补充资金联系起来，并且为了圣诞节资金或可卡因而交易商品的可能性是一样的。（摘要截断于400字）
