Abstract
BACKGROUND: The article was developed as a component of the project Social Costs of Alcohol, Tobacco and Illicit Drug Use in the Czech Republic in 2007. Direct costs on law enforcement including substance use related crime are inherent part of these social costs.
AIMS: The main aim of the study was identification and quantification of crime offences related to use of illegal drugs and alcohol including their shares on total crime in the Czech Republic in 2007. METHODS: Quantitative estimations of primary and secondary crime are based on the Goldstein Tripartite Model and EMCDDA differentiation of drug related crime.
The methods were used analogically for primary and secondary alcohol crime estimations. DATA: Data sources were statistical reports of law enforcement bodies in 2007.
RESULTS: Estimates shows that 15.5 % of criminal offences in committed in the Czech Republic were in connection with alcohol use, and 11.1 % of criminal offences were in connection with illegal drugs use. 17.0 % of imprisoned population were drug offenders, and 5.1 % were alcohol offenders. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its specific limits the study and its results represent (especially for alcohol related crime) the first attempt to comprehensively quantify substance use related crime in the Czech Republic, with the ambition to encourage further research of this complex topic.