DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE KEY FACTORS IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

New Study Suggests Intoxicants Contribute To Nearly Half Of Crimes By
People In Federal Jails

Drug and alcohol use are a direct cause of almost half the crimes
that put people in the federal justice system, according to a study
released in Charlottetown Tuesday.

Studies of inmate populations have long found a high number of the
people in federal institutions reporting addiction problems, but the
recent study from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse goes a step
further and suggests that intoxicants are a contributing cause to
between 40 and 50 per cent of crimes.

Researchers found that more than half of federal inmates reported
they were intoxicated at the time they committed their offences.

In 23 per cent of cases, they found that the crime had actually been
committed in order to obtain drugs or alcohol.

The study was unveiled at a conference of experts on addictions and
criminal behaviour. Delegates from a dozen countries are at
Charlottetown Delta hotel this week to look at the latest information
on the crime-addiction pattern.

Corrections Canada's addiction research centre in Montague is
considered a leader in examining the role of addiction in crime and
in looking at ways of breaking that cycle.

Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay said the findings confirmed the
relationship that Corrections Canada has long noticed connecting
addictions and criminal behaviour.

"I wouldn't necessarily call the results a surprise," he said. "We
find that seven out of 10 inmates in our system have some kind of
abuse problem." On top of the link between addictions and criminal
behaviour, the study found that the types of crimes committed varied
with the type of addiction from which a criminal suffers.

Researchers found that 37 per cent of inmates with alcohol dependency
had committed violent crimes, compared to 18 per cent of those with
drug addiction. Drug addicts were found more likely to commit theft
or other "gainful" offences, often in order to obtain drugs.

The work was based on interviews with inmates and examination of
thousands of criminal case files.

Researcher Serge Brochu said the study is the first to establish a
causal link between addictions and crime. He said further work may be
needed to see if there are variations in the addiction-crime pattern
depending on the offender's region, gender or social group.

MacAulay said establishing the link scientifically should help pave
the way to reduce crime by dealing with the drug and alcohol problems
that are at its root.

"I'm not here to make announcements today but I'm sure you can see
where I might feel some actions could happen and where I feel our
emphasis is," he said.

"We certainly intend to do what we can to deal with people in custody."

Michel Perron, chief executive officer of the Canadian Centre on
Substance Abuse, said it is becoming clear that fighting addiction is
an effective way to reduce crime and to cut the risk that people who
have been in the federal prison system will offend once they are
released.

"I'm not a penal expert, I'm an addiction expert, but given the
evidence of drug and alcohol problems among the population, certainly
it would bode well for the correctional service to continue their
efforts and to support groups such as the addiction research centre
here in Montague, P.E.I.," Perron said.

"The issue we are looking at is what sort of programs we can put into
place to prevent the onset of drug use and alcohol abuse. To help
those who are in trouble to extract themselves from that and, where
they do find themselves in a correctional setting, to provide the
treatments and supports that they require."