Exam 11: Drug Use and Delinquency

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• A more serious type of drug-involved youth is the one who distributes multiple substances and commits both property and violent crimes; many are gang members. These youngsters make up about 2% of the teenage population, but they may commit up to 40% of robberies and assaults and about 60% of all teenage felony thefts and drug sales. Girls are as likely as boys to become persistent drug-involved offenders, White youths as likely as Black youths, and middle-class adolescents raised outside cities as likely as lower-class city children.
• In cities, these youths frequently are hired by older dealers to act as street-level drug runners. Each member of a crew of 3 to 12 youths will handle small quantities of drugs; the supplier receives 50% to 70% of the drug's street value. The crew members also act as lookouts, recruiters, and guards. Although they may be recreational drug users themselves, crew members refrain from using addictive drugs such as heroin. Between drug sales, the young dealers commit robberies, burglaries, and other thefts.
• Most youngsters in the street drug trade either terminate their dealing or become drug dependent. A few develop entrepreneurial skills. Those who are rarely apprehended by police advance in the drug business. They develop their own crews and may handle more than half a million dollars a year.
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