5.6c Illicit Drug Use

The U.S. Department of Justice (1994) classifies drug-related crimes to include using, possessing, manufacturing, and distributing drugs with likelihood of abuse such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana. Most drug-related crimes are possession (89%) (see Figure 5.13), and most arrests are for drug possession (see Figure 5.14).

Thirteen percent of people aged 12 years and older in the United States reported using an illicit drug in the past 30 days at the time of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent survey (2023). Illegal drugs include “marijuana, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens (including LSD, PCP, peyote, mescaline, psilocybin mushrooms, Ecstasy [MDMA or Molly], ketamine, DMT/AMT/Foxy, and Salvia divinorum), and prescription psychotherapeutic drugs (including pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives)” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023e).

Illicit drug use is also a public health concern. The number of people dying from drug-involved overdose has increased since the early 2000s in the United States (see Figure 5.15). Synthetic opioids, especially fentanyl, contributed to 23 times as many overdose deaths in 2021 as in 2013 (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2024). There is widespread public approval for treating rather than punishing opioid use (Cook & Worcman, 2019).