Drug Misuse

Studies point to links between shop theft and misuse of drugs.

• A two year programme of research involving drug testing of arrestees found that over 80% of all arrestees for shop theft tested positive for at least one drug, while 47% tested positive for opiates.

T Bennett Drugs and Crime: the Results of Research on Drug Testing and Interviewing Arrestees. Home Office Research Study 183,1999

• While causality is complex, an evaluation of arrest referral schemes also found that shop theft featured high among offenders’ strategies for financing their drug use.

M Edmunds et al Arrest Referral: Emerging lessons from research, Drugs Prevention Initiative Paper 23, 1998.