Por ejemplo, un estudio de tratamiento teraputico de la comunidad para ofensores de drogas (Tratamientos de Drogadiccin en los Estados Unidos) demostr

que los arrestos por actos criminales tanto violentos como no violentos se redujeron en un 40 por ciento o ms. La obtencin de buenos resultados depende de un tiempo adecuado de tratamiento. Muchas personas que participan en los tratamientos los terminan prematuramente. Para obtener resultados exitosos se puede requerir ms de una ronda de tratamiento. Muchos individuos adictos reciben mltiples rondas de tratamientos, a menudo con un impacto acumulativo. Ya que algunos problemas individuales (tales como una enfermedad mental seria, el uso severo de la cocana o el "crack", y conexiones criminales) aumentan la probabilidad de que un paciente termine prematuramente el programa, es posible que se requieran tratamientos intensivos con una variedad de componentes para retener a los pacientes que tienen estos problemas dentro del programa. El terapeuta debe asegurarse que exista una transicin a cuidados continuos o "terapia de convalecencia" despus de que el paciente termine el tratamiento formal. "Parental addiction has three distinct developmental costs for children: first, is the loss of emotional and behavioral predictability (Chambers, 2005). Addicted parents exhibit poor judgment and impaired thinking. Their lifestyles are characterized by ongoing disputes, disruption, dissolution, brief reconciliations and overall continual transition, which confuse and disappoint children. Most children in these environments witness violence from modeled aggression (Jablonska, & Lindberg, 2007). Such bantering leaves both parents unavailable for children. Their behaviors towards their children are distant, strict, and with little or no supervision. As a result children receive scant support, affection, and direction (Ali, & Munaf, 2006)."

Abstract
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered to 210 adolescents whose drug use ranged from using only licit drugs to the injection of opiates. The personality traits of drug users differed significantly between groups and between sexes. For both sexes, drug users scored significantly higher than non-users on a number of MMPI scales. For females, neuroticism (as measured by elevations on the

hypocondriasis, depression and hysteria scales) was more important in predicting the use of licit drugs and cannabis, with psychopathic deviance and mania being more important in predicting other illicit drugs. For males, elevated psychopathic deviance and mania scale scores were strongly associated with extent of drug use. The possibility that these two scales only measure delinquency rather than a more permanent personality type is discussed. The relationship between addiction and crime is a complex one, and the cause of much anxiety for the authorities, and much headscratching for sociologists. Consider, for example, that there are some who commit crime in order to fund their addiction; then there are those who are addicted to crime itself. Do we punish addicts, or do we treat them? Are some addictions worse than others, meaning that some addicts require punishment, and others treatment? These are just a few of the problems faced by lawmakers, police and social scientists, when dealing with addiction.

Crime to Fund Addiction

The most widely publicised relationship between crime and addiction is that of the addict breaking the law in order to feed his or her habit. This relationship earns a lot of coverage both in the news and in fiction, because it concentrates on the spectre of the possessed junkie, doing anything he can to get his next fix. The fear factor that this notion holds for the public never seems to lose its potency. In reality, the people most likely to fall victim to hard drug-related crime are other addicts, who are less able to defend themselves, and more likely to possess drugs. But this isn't to say that the problem is not real and immediate. In 2008, the charity Addaction estimated that hard drug-related crime has cost the UK as much as 100 billion over a ten year period. In addition to the health implications of addiction, it is estimated that this relationship is costing the British taxpayer more than 16 billion every year. Part of the problem is down to the illegality of drugs. Supporters of drug legalisation say that if hard drugs were legalised, addicts wouldn't have to go to such extreme lengths to obtain drugs. Additionally, the cost of legalised drugs would be controlled, addicts would pay considerably less, and therefore need less money to fund their addictions. Furthermore, legalised drugs could be taxed, which would help pay for the treatment of addicts. Opponents of drug legalisation say that it would simply result in thousands more addicts, all creating more of a burden on the state and the taxpayer.

Other Addiction-Related crime

Whilst the relationship between illegal drugs and crime is well known, the relationship between other addictions and crime is just as damaging. Addictions to gambling, for example, can be enormously costly. People regularly get into debt to fund their gambling habit, and when they are unable to repay their debt, are in danger of turning to crime. Alcohol and crime have a long-standing relationship. The confidence that drinking imbues in people can lead to sudden and extreme violence. Quite apart from the punch-ups that can occur in the street after closing time, it has been estimated by the British Medical Association that up to 70 percent of all domestic murders are alcoholrelated. That isn't to say that everyone who gets drunk is an addict, but the relationship between alcoholism and violence is a stark one. Then there is crime addiction itself. People who are addicted to the very feeling of breaking the law. This can be the most difficult addiction to treat, as crime is not simply the by-product of addiction, but the aim. Figuring out how to treat crime addicts continues to be a long-standing challenge for the authorities.

Changing the Approach to Addiction and Crime

Whilst the issue of addictions and crime can be an emotive one, it is clear that new methods are required to tackle a problem that is costing billions of pounds and perhaps thousands of lives. And whilst the authorities have often seemed hesitant to treat addicts rather than punish them, the most recent evidence suggests that treatment is the far more effective method. In 2008, a study conducted by Manchester University's National Drug Evidence Centre found that addicts were 50 percent less likely to commit crime again after a course of treatment. Addicts who were simply jailed almost invariably took up crime again upon their release.

Some Basic Problems in Drug Addiction and Suggestions for Research*

by MORRIS PLOSCOWE VIII. DRUG ADDICTION IN RELATION TO CRIME One of the compelling reasons why more rational methods of dealing with drug addicts must be devised is the close relationship between drug addiction and crime. The compulsion for the drug makes every drug addict a law violator and a criminal. Mere possession of a narcotic drug which the addict must have to ward off withdrawal distress is a violation of the narcotic laws. Thus, every drug addict is subject to arrest by the

police, and as we have seen, the arrests of addicts and of narcotic law violators have gone up by leaps and bounds. Addicts guilty of no other crime than illegal possession of narcotics are filling the jails, prisons and penitentiaries of the country. However, this is only a part of the distressing picture of the relationship between narcotic addiction and criminality. For most narcotic addicts, predatory crime (larceny, shoplifting, sneak thievery, burglary, embezzlement, robbery, etc.), is a necessary way of life. This was clearly recognized by the law enforcement officials who appeared before the Congressional Committees and gave testimony concerning the close relationship between property crime and drug addiction in their communities. These officials were convinced that property crimes could be reduced materially if all drug addicts could be incarcerated. The New York University and the Chicago studies on drug addiction support the notion that drug addiction necessarily leads to predatory crime as a way of life. For example, Chein and Rosenfeld make the following comments based on their studies of juvenile addicts: "Drug use leads to a criminal way of life. The illegality of purchase and possession of opiates and similar drugs makes a drug user a delinquent ipso facto. The high cost of heroin, the drug generally used by juvenile users, also forces specific delinquency against property for cash returns. The average addicted youngster spends almost forty dollars a week on drugs, often as much as seventy dollars. He is too young and unskilled to be able to support his habit by his earnings. The connection between drug use and delinquency for profit has been established beyond any doubt."56 A Chicago study comes to a similar conclusion: "...Almost without exception addicts resort to theft to obtain money for the purchase of the drugs. The compulsion of the addiction itself coupled with the astronomically high cost of heroin leads the addict inescapably to crime. For the addict there is very simply no alternative."57 There has been considerable debate as to whether the criminality of the addict preceded or is merely a consequence of the drug addiction. Studies like those of Pescor can be cited for the proposition that most narcotic addicts became delinquents and criminals after the onset of their addiction. Pescor found in 1943. that of the 1,036 patients at Lexington, studied by him, 75.3% had no history of delinquency prior to addiction.58 Anslinger, however, has the always taken the view that the drug addict was usually a criminal first before becoming addicted.59 The answer to the question of whether the addict was a delinquent or criminal prior to addiction largely depends upon the particular groups of addicts studied. For example, Kolb60, in 1928, studied a group of 119 so called "medical addicts", persons who became addicted to drugs as a result of the prescription of narcotics for ailments other than addiction. Kolb found that of these 119 addicts, 90 had never previously been arrested. However, the studies conducted in New York and Chicago present a different picture. These studies of drug addiction were conducted in areas with high rates of delinquency and crime. They were also concerned with youthful and adolescent offenders. The conclusion from the Chicago and New York studies is inescapable that "delinquency both preceded and followed addiction to heroin."61 "Persons who became users," stated the Chicago report, "were found to have engaged in delinquency in a group habitual form either prior to their use of drugs or simultaneously with their developing interest in drugs. There was little evidence of a consistent sequence from drug use without delinquency to

drug use with delinquency."62 Nevertheless, even in the delinquency areas of our large cities, there are persons who become addicted to drugs without a prior career of delinquency and crime. After addiction, however, they will usually turn to delinquency and crime "often after overcoming severe psychological conflict occasioned by their repugnance to theft."63 Moreover, the addict who had previously been a delinquent loses all chance of shaking off habits of delinquency and crime as he grows older. Not all non addicted delinquents and adolescent offenders living in the delinquency areas of our large cities grow up to be habitual and professional criminals. Many abandon their delinquent and criminal pursuits when they reach early adulthood. They find jobs, marry and settle down to productive lives. But if the delinquent or adolescent offender adds narcotic addiction to his patterns of behavior, ". ..All possible future retreat from a delinquent mode of life is cut off regardless of whatever later impulses they may have to reject a criminal career in favor of a conventional one. They are constrained by their unremitting need and the high cost of heroin to continue in crime. This interpretation supports the conclusion that drug addiction results in a large and permanent increase in the volume of crime."64 Thus, the realities of the relationship between narcotic addiction and crime appear to be much more somber than the romantic myth, "that hold-up men, murderers, rapists and other violent criminals take drugs to give them courage or stamina to go through with acts which they might not commit when not drugged."65 Dr. Kolb has labeled this notion an "absurd fallacy." The crimes committed by opiate addicts are generally of a parasitic, predatory nonviolent character. Drug addicts may, on occasion, commit violent crimes. This is hardly surprising since so many are classified as psychopaths. A psychopath tends towards serious criminality with or without drug addiction. Generally, however, the use of opiate drugs (whatever may be the case with marihuana and cocaine) tends to discourage violent crime. As Maurer and Vogel point out: "The sense of well-being and satisfaction with the world are so strong that, coupled with the depressant action of the drug, the individual is unlikely to commit aggressive or violent crime after he is addicted, even though he habitually or professionally did so previous to addiction. In the words of Kolb, 'Both heroin and morphine in large doses change drunken fighting psychopaths into sober, cowardly, non-aggressive idlers ...' "...To date, there has been no evidence collected to show that any significant percentage of opiate addicts commit violent crimes either professionally or casually while under the influence of these drugs ... the reduction or elimination of sexual desire tends to remove the opiate addict from the category of psychopathic sex offenders, even though he might have a tendency to commit sex crimes when not addicted ..."66 Since opiate drugs do not act as a stimulant for the commission of violent crime, should not confirmed addicts have a means of obtaining such drugs legally, so that they will not have to engage in crime in order to raise the money necessary for their needs? This basic question goes to the heart of our present policy in dealing with drugs addiction. a atencin y preocupacin sobre el tema proviene tanto de organismos internacionales como Naciones Unidas como de gobiernos, instituciones acadmicas y organismos no gubernamentales de diversos pases que han hecho importantes esfuerzos y aportaciones en la materia.

El uso de drogas se relaciona con actividades delictivas de diversas maneras. Algunas de ellas, de manera directa: produccin, trfico, distribucin, comercializacin y posesin por s mismas constituyen delitos. Otro tipo de vinculacin deriva de los efectos que su uso genera en la conducta de las personas adictas, y que, en determinadas circunstancias, dan lugar a actitudes violentas propiciatorias de la comisin de delitos. Una forma ms, es la de aquellos adictos que para obtener la droga, se ven compelidos a cometer algn delito. Segn la Oficina Nacional de Poltica de Control de Drogas (ONDCP por sus siglas en ingls) y la Oficina Ejecutiva del Presidente de los Estados Unidos la asociacin parece ser no slo evidente, si no de tal relevancia que consideran que los delitos ligados a drogas y los "estilos de vida" de los adictos son los principales factores que contribuyen con el problema delictivo que enfrentan.[1] Los datos que reportan diferentes agencias estadounidenses as parecen confirmarlo: El Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos norteamericano realiza un estudio nacional de vivienda sobre abuso de drogas (National Household Survey on Drug Abuse NHSDA) que, entre otras cuestiones, recaba informacin sobre el uso de drogas y alcohol por parte de los habitantes de la vivienda seleccionada y su participacin en algn delito durante el ao anterior al que se levanta la encuesta.

Datos parciales de 1997, citados por la Oficina Ejecutiva del Presidente en marzo del 2000, muestran que los adictos a drogas reportaron haber sido arrestados y fichados por robo o hurto alrededor de 16 veces ms que los no adictos; ms de 14 veces por manejar en estado de ebriedad o bajo la influencia del alcohol o por violaciones a la ley de licores; y ms de 9 veces por asalto que los no adictos. Segn datos del Departamento de Justicia del vecino pas sealan que en el ao 2004, el 17% de los prisioneros estatales y el 18% de los federales aceptaron haber delinquido para comprar drogas.

Estos porcentajes se incrementan cuando el anlisis se restringe a los convictos por delitos patrimoniales: 30% en prisiones estatales y 25% en las federales delinquieron para comprar drogas. El 32% del total de reclusos en crceles estatales y el 26% en prisiones federales manifestaron haber estado drogados cuando cometieron el ilcito. En el caso de convictos en prisiones estatales por delitos vinculados a drogas y por delitos patrimoniales el porcentaje que manifest haber delinquido bajo el efecto de alguna droga se increment: 44% y 39%, respectivamente. Lo

mismo sucede en las crceles federales, aunque en menor proporcin: 32% y 24%.[2] A partir de datos del Bur Federal de Investigacin (FBI, por sus siglas en ingls), la ONDCP estima que en 2005, de los 14,860 homicidios cuyas circunstancias fueron conocidas, el 4% de ellos estuvieron relacionados con drogas.[3]

Estos datos se refieren solo a los asesinatos ocurridos durante la comisin de un delito vinculado con la elaboracin o el trfico de narcticos, o por rias entre personas drogadas. No incluye los homicidios que ocurren durante un robo o asalto a casa-habitacin cometido por un delincuente bajo el influjo de una droga o que tiene por objeto conseguir dinero para comprarla.[4] De tal manera que la estadstica del FBI no considera todos los casos en los que se perpetran homicidios relacionados de una u otra manera con las drogas, lo que est determinando de hecho un subregistro en la informacin. De acuerdo con la National Crime Victimization Survey NCVS encuesta victimolgica nacional norteamericana, en 2004 hubo 5.2 millones de crmenes violentos de residentes de 12 aos de edad o ms. El 30% de las vctimas de violencia percibi que su agresor estaba bajo los efectos de drogas o alcohol.[5]

Durante el perodo de 1995 a 2000, en el 41% de delitos violentos cometidos contra estudiantes universitarios (college) y el 38% contra noestudiantes, los agresores de acuerdo a la percepcin de sus vctimas estaban bajo el efecto de alguna droga.

Dos de cada cinco casos de violacin o ataque sexual y alrededor de una cuarta parte del total de robos contra estudiantes de college, fueron cometidos por agresores que las vctimas percibieron bajo el influjo de una droga.[6] A pesar de los resultados mencionados aqu de manera breve, y que la "...evidencia indica que los adictos tienen ms probabilidades que los no adictos de cometer crmenes, que los arrestados frecuentemente estaban bajo el efecto de una droga al momento de cometer el delito y que las drogas generan violencia"[7], la ONDCP concluye lo siguiente: "Evaluar la naturaleza y el grado de influencia de las drogas sobre el crimen requiere informacin fidedigna del tipo de delito, que el delincuente est disponible y que las definiciones sean consistentes. Ante una problemtica evidencia, es imposible decir cuantitativamente qu tanta es la influencia de las drogas en la comisin de crmenes."[8]

En otras palabras, si bien existe un cmulo de datos, encuestas y estudios que muestran la evidente asociacin entre ambos fenmenos, la naturaleza de su relacin no est bien definida; es decir, no es posible, por lo menos de manera general, confirmar una asociacin causal de las adicciones con la delincuencia. Lo anterior no significa que no sean plausibles las hiptesis que sostienen que existe una relacin causa- efecto en algunas situaciones especficas, por ejemplo, en adictos que delinquen con el fin de obtener dinero para la adquisicin de droga. Los esfuerzos para esclarecer el carcter, grado e impacto de las adicciones sobre la comisin de delitos se estn desarrollando en diversos pases del mundo, y la Oficina de las Naciones Unidas contra las Drogas y el Delito ONUDD es una de las instancias internacionales ms interesadas en ello. Nuestro pas no puede estar al margen de este tipo de estudios, sobre todo en el contexto actual de creciente alarma de la sociedad por el aumento de las adicciones,[9] y de la delincuencia, en especial la relacionada con el trfico de drogas. Es altamente recomendable que las iniciativas legislativas o estrategias de seguridad pblica se fundamenten en el conocimiento cientfico del tema a fin de no cometer el error de simplificar un problema complejo lo que, inequvocamente, ser contraproducente. Por ejemplo, sera errneo que criminalizar la drogadiccin, la que requiere sobre todo de la prevencin social, del tratamiento y de la rehabilitacin mdica, psiquitrica, laboral, cultural, etctera, ms que la represin, extorsin policaca, estigmatizacin y encarcelamiento. Por primera ocasin, en 2008 coincidirn dos encuestas de gran envergadura en Mxico: la Encuesta Nacional de Adicciones (ENADIC) y la Encuesta Nacional sobre Inseguridad (ENSI) que permitirn, de alguna manera, contar con informacin que pueda mostrar una relacin entre estos dos problemas. A pesar de que tanto las adicciones, como la delincuencia requieren de un anlisis multicausal y multidisciplinario, podremos profundizar en este tema. Ambas encuestas se realizan durante 2008 y ambas tienen como perodo de referencia el ao 2007. Los tamaos de sus respectivas muestras, as como su rigor metodolgico permitirn contar con estimaciones por entidad federativa, lo cual a su vez admitir realizar comparaciones y posiblemente anlisis muy ricos en torno a esta relacin: adicciones y delincuencia.

Se trata de contar y contribuir con un mayor conocimiento del problema, para poder disear las propuestas y polticas pblicas para prevenir, controlar y, eventualmente, abatir las adicciones y la criminalidad asociada a sta. --------------------------------ICESI Hoy elaborado con informacin proporcionada por el investigador Dr. Felipe Espinosa. --------------------------------[1]

Executive Office of President / Office of National Drug Control Policy. DrugRelated Crime. Washington, D.C. March, 2000.
[2]

Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004, NCJ 213530. Washington, DC. October, 2006.
[3]

Dorsey T, Zawitz M, Middleton P. Drugs and Crime Facts. NCJ 165148. US Department of Justice. Washington, DC. 2006.
[4]

Executive Office of President / Office of National Drug Control Policy. Op. cit. p. 5.
[5]

BJS. Criminal victimization in the United States, 2004. Statistical Tables. Table 32. NCJ 213257. Washington, DC. June, 2006.
[6]

BJS. Violent Victimization of Collage Students, 1995-2000. NCJ 196143. Washington, DC. December, 2003.
[7]

Executive Office of President / Office of National Drug Control Policy. Op. cit. pg. 4.
[8]

Ibid.

[9]

Secretara de Salud. Encuesta Nacional de Adicciones 2002. Mxico, DF: SSA, 2003.

Asociar adiccin con delincuencia es errneo y nocivo"

(17/09) El Pueblo Nuevo habl con el titular de la Regin VI en prevencin de adicciones, Horacio Marzo,

sobre la problemtica particular que presenta la actividad en la zona

Cmo est trabajando en el tema prevencin de adicciones? Por prevencin entendemos el trabajo comunitario; el trabajo con las instituciones; el territorio y fundamentalmente en los barrios que es donde nacemos; crecemos y nos enfermamos y nos curamos. Esto lo hacemos de distintas formas, en principio tratamos de trabajar con sociedades de fomento. En general los pibes que nos vienen a consultar tienen una cantidad de problemas importantes, diversos, no solo el problema de adiccin. Por lo tanto para tratar de ayudarlos y resolverlo la respuesta tiene que ser integral, por eso trabajamos tambin en educacin; con desarrollo social; generando lazos sociales. Cmo se da el fenmeno de trabajar en la prevencin con chicos que tienen un problema que la sociedad no admite como enfermedad, sino que lo considera casi como una desviacin? Hay una interpretacin social que a m gusto es errnea, y que tiene efectos nocivos en los chicos, que es asociar la adiccin con la delincuencia. Y si hacemos esto como podemos hablar de insercin social para estos chicos. Uno de los principales trabajos en prevencin es romper con esa idea, pero otro lado trabajar desde lo social teniendo en cuenta que esto no es una causa sino que es un efecto de desigualdades. De desigualdades sociales; de una brecha cada vez ms grande; falta de contencin. Y trabajamos justamente tratando de dar lugar al sufrimiento, generando grupos, en las escuelas apoyando a los docentes; en las sociedades de fomento; desde las instituciones. Lugares donde nosotros tambin nos forjamos. Nos formamos en cuanto a subjetividad y en cuanto a principios. En esta poca hablar de salud mental en funcin de la salud-enfermedad es errneo, tenemos que hablar de la salud en funcin de inclusin-exclusin.

Criminales adictos sern rehabilitados

Los sentenciados cumplirn sus penas en centros de recuperacin

MARA DE LA LUZ GONZLEZ

EL UNIVERSAL

MARTES 28 DE JULIO DE 2009

Video Crean Cortes de Droga para rehabilitar a adictos

Mxico y EU anunciaron un programa piloto que arrancar en Nuevo Len y que forma parte de una iniciativa para atender de manera integral el combate a las drogas

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