UNMIK ON AIR

Feb. 05 2003

Drugs and Crime

(By Luan Qorraj)

Hello and Welcome to this edition of UNMIK on Air with David Balham and Luan Qorraj.

During the past few years there has been a lot of talk about increasing drug abuse amidst kosovan youth. A few studies have been made on the subject and their results, together with the increasing number of drug-related arrests all seem to support one theory; every day there are more drug users and newer and cheaper drugs are coming into kosovo on daily bases. Some experts are even warning that the first signs of a drug sub-culture are starting to show- up

The personal risks of drug abuse are well known, health problems, difficulties functioning on the social level, character changes and, ultimately, death by overdose, are some of the most obvious ones. But, a high level of drug abuse brings other risks that are not limited only to the user. The main one is an increased crime rate in the society.

Drug related crimes can take all shapes, from simple theft to grievous assaults and other violent crimes. Safet Blakaj, a psychologist working with the addiction treatment center “labyrinth” says that it is quite true that drug abuse can lead to other types of criminal activities but adds that a lot depends on the type of the drug that is being abused and the personality of the abuser:

Safet Blakaj: Depressant drugs, as they are called, put the personality “down”. And the user has no will to act in an aggressive way. This is when we talk about Heroin. But when it comes to stimulants it is the opposite. For example cocaine and especially amphetamines – when under their influence- the user can commit different aggressive deeds like violence or sexual violence.

Safet warns not to prejudge all addicts since the majority of them never commit crimes. The most commonly used drug among kosovan addicts is heroin- a drug that causes extreme physical and mental addiction and although it’s abusers are quite harmless while under it’s influence, some of them can go to extremes in order to secure the drug if they are deprived of it.

Safet Blakaj: But, the causal connection between crime and drug abuse happens when people who are addicted to Heroin find themselves in abstinential crises, where they do not have the drug, criminal activities happen. But it also depends on the person, it’s surroundings.

Safet adds that the biggest number of crimes committed by some of the drug users are never reported since the victims of those crimes are the addicts closest family members:

Safet Blakaj: There is a sub-group that is less known in criminology that is Family crime. A big part of drug users commit this crime by stealing from their family. Later on they become more aggressive, violent, threatening and they act delinquently within the family.

Still, there are a lot of stigmas and prejudices surrounding drugs in the Kosovan society. A drug user is often branded as a criminal, a destructive individual, or even looked upon as a completely useless society member. It is true that a number of drug users can be dangerous, says Safet, but a lot depends on the drugs they are using. The so called “light drug’ users, he adds, almost never commit crimes. And even if they do, it never has anything to do with the drug:

Safet Blakaj: There is often a lot of talk about causality between Marijuana and crime but all the studies done in the states, Europe and everywhere else where unable to connect Marijuana and crime. Some marijuana users have committed crimes but that didn’t have anything to do with Marijuana, it had to do with the structure of the personality and the surroundings in which he lived.

So what should be done with drug addicts who are arrested for non-drug related crimes? Safet says that the Kosovan judiciary, has no clear stand on what would be the right approach to take. The final verdicts depend on the presiding judges and it is up to them to decide whether the addiction is relevant to the crime committed or not. There is no universal recipe anywhere in the world, some countries decide to imprison addicts who commit crimes, others send them to rehab treatment. But, the problem with enforced treatment, is that its results are doubtful

Safet Blakaj: Experiences of others say that when someone commits a crime he should be held responsible for it and put behind bars, which is what happens in the British system- where never minding if someone is an addict he is held responsible for a deed he committed and is sent straight to prison. While in Japan drug users are never sent to prison but are sent to unwilling treatment. But I think that unwilling treatment can never be successful.

So, according to Safet Blakaj, a criminal is a criminal, never minding the drug habit. And, although there is no doubt that increased drug abuse leads to increased crime stats, not all users become criminals. Actually, most of them are ordinary people who just made a mistake:

Safet Blakaj: Drug users are the same as all other people, they are just sick from the diseases of addiction. I think that while they walked the road of life, they decided to take a shortcut.

Still, the problem of increasing drug abuse remains a problem, and with it there will be an increasing number of people who will go to extremes to be able to support their habit.

And with this we close today’s edition of UNMIK on Air. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for more.