The Relationship of Alcohol and Drugs to Delinquency and Crime in Racine

Abstract

This chapter continues our critical examination of the relationship of alcohol and drugs to delinquency and crime in the Racine cohorts. Forty percent of 715 people in the 1942 and 1949 Cohorts who filled out self-reports and had continuous residence in Racine revealed at least some marijuana and/or other drug use, but only 10 percent said that they used marijuana or other drugs ‘frequently or ‘all of the time/ Only 1.8 percent had police contacts for drug offenses and half of those had only misdemeanor-level offenses. These cohorts reached the age of 16 in 1958 and 1965, before the public’s attention had been focused on drugs and crime.