Is there a correlation between the use of alcohol and drugs and youth crime? Many have asked this question in an effort to find the cause of youth crime and perhaps a way to prevent it. Many believe that drugs and alcohol are, in some cases, related to youth crime; such as selling drugs, break and enter or robbery in order to have funds to be able to purchase drugs and alcohol. This can be due to the media's representation of youth crime, as well as youth drug and alcohol use. Youth crime makes up only a small percentage of the overall crime rate. However, the media sensationalizes extreme cases of youth crime (i.e. Columbine), which in turn gives the public a skewed perception of how often youth crime actually occurs. What leads people to believe that alcohol and drugs cause youth crime is that often these extreme, yet rare, cases of youth crime do involve the use of alcohol and/or drugs. If the media is the only method through which people obtain their information on youth crime, they will receive a bias picture of youth crime, as well as the use of alcohol and drugs by youth. However, no research has found that substance abuse is the sole cause of delinquency but rather one issue among many others.
             In order to demonstrate the correlation between substance abuse and youth crime, I will examine: the frequency of drug and alcohol use and crime (both self-reported by members of the general population and when an arrest occurs for a particular crime), the seriousness of crimes, the type of drugs used, possible explanations for the correlation between crime and drug use, and the presence of drug and alcohol abuse and crime among street youths.
             A study by Johnson and Walsh (1991) has shown that there is a connection between drug and alcohol use and crime among young people. This study was a self-reported study in which young people, who were chosen randomly among the general population, were asked, at different times, ...