THE NEXUS BETWEEN DRUG ABUSE AND CRIME IN ANGWAN BABA ARAGO AREA OF AKWANGA LOCAL GOVERNMENT, NASARAWA STATE

Abstract

Three suppositions have generally governed studies on drug use and crime, and these include drug use leads to crime, crime leads to drug use, and both drug use and crime are manifestations of a general orientation towards delinquency and are not causally related. Several studies supported the contention that both drug use and delinquency are manifestations of a general orientation toward crime, but did not eliminate the possibility of a causal relationship between the two. It is on this premise that this study sought to explain the Nexus between drug abuse and crime in Nigeria. The personality, learning, biological and socio-cultural theories of drug abuse, were adopted to help us understand the dynamics of drug abuse and criminal behaviour. The study adopted the survey design, which entails collecting data from a fraction of the population of study 3,874, while the sample of 194 was selected, using Israel 1992 sample determined table but only 188 instruments were retrieved from the field, in the same vein the study adopted the snowball sampling technique. The findings revealed amongst others that there is a strong nexus between drug abuse and criminal/hostile behaviour in Angwan Baba Arago. The study concluded that, because drug abuse and crime are indissolubly interconnected, identifying drug-abusing youth in the juvenile justice system is an important first step for intervening in both their substance abuse and their criminal behaviour. Amongst the recommendations was that ding testing can be used to help youth achieve and maintain recovery and curtail other deviant behaviours.