Alcohol-Related Crime

For biological purposes, alcohol is just another physiological depressant, conflicting with the fact that it is a psychological stimulant. This contradiction may be the reason it continues to be treated separately from other drugs. With some exceptions, based on culture and/or religion—most well-known, Islam—its consumption has been legal from time immemorial. Thus, for its interaction with crime, involvement with alcohol is in the subset of behavior that derives from doing the right thing in the wrong way. The economic consequences of problems that derive from alcohol consumption must be viewed through this lens.

The crimes in which alcohol is implicated, with its huge economic impact, range from improper production to improper use, along with regulatory violations related to production and sale, most obviously involving taxation and ...