Many crimes are committed by people ON drugs, not necessarily committed to GET them. Legalization would result in more people using drugs, hence more crime.
| Table 2. Percentage of State and Federal prison inmates who reported being under the influence of drugs at time of their offense, 1997 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type of offense | Federal prison inmates | State prison inmates |
| Total of all inmates | 22.4% | 32.6% |
| Violent offenses | 24.5 | 29.0 |
| Murder | 29.4 | 26.8 |
| Negligent manslaughter | * | 17.4 |
| Sexual assault | 7.9 | 21.5 |
| Robbery | 27.8 | 39.9 |
| Assault | 13.8 | 24.2 |
| Other | 15.9 | 29.0 |
| Property offenses | 10.8 | 36.6 |
| Burglary | * | 38.4 |
| Larceny/theft | * | 38.4 |
| Motor vehicle theft | * | 39.0 |
| Fraud | 6.5 | 30.5 |
| Other | 16.4 | 30.6 |
| Drug offenses | 25.0 | 41.9 |
| Possession | 25.1 | 42.6 |
| Trafficking | 25.9 | 41.0 |
| Other | 17.1 | 47.1 |
| Public-order offenses | 15.6 | 23.1 |
| Weapons | 24.4 | 22.4 |
| Other | 8.1 | 23.3 |
| * Too few cases in the sample to permit calculation. Source: BJS, Substance Abuse and Treatment, State and Federal Prisoners, 1997. |
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Correlation is not causation.