Problem Statement The criminal justice system deals with all forms of serious crimes in an unforgiving manner. If offenders commit a crime while under the influence of drugs, they are likely to be put in prison for a longer period of time than someone who committed the same type of crime but was not under the influence of drugs ( Taylor, 2008). . That said, there are many causes of drug-related crimes. Usually, when it comes to a drug-related crime, it tends to be more serious in terms of harm caused than unrelated ones. It is important to further explore drug-related crimes to identify their root causes. Some people tend to generalize about the causes of drug-related crimes and claim that they are simply related to people who do no good to our society. . However, in some cases drugs can be used as a source of income for people who commit crimes to facilitate this goal (Nurco, 1998). These people have no way out of their drug-related life and therefore do not necessarily choose this lifestyle but are bred into it. Likewise, the background of people involved in drug use that could lead to crime is predisposed early to drug-related behavior. in their families (Winfree et. Al., 1993). It is interesting to see how drug use can affect people early in their lives because one might assume that their drug use will increase later on. These people are likely to be molded into a lifestyle that involves heavy drug use and will result in crimes being committed. So, with all this in mind, “do illegal drugs influence an individual to commit heinous crimes, such as murder?” It is interesting to see what the literature says on this topic and how in reality there are many people who are not aware of what they are doing and make bad decisions. Therefore, individuals' level of self-control may dictate their criminal behavior. Link Current knowledge about drug-related criminal behavior is limited. It can be said that drugs are likely to influence criminal activity, but this does not provide specific information about how criminal activity is influenced by drugs. It's one thing to make inferences about what you see in some people and another to actually observe a group of people who may represent this behavior many times. Research on illicit drugs and crime highlights that narcotics and cocaine are more likely than other drugs to cause criminal behavior, including homicide (Nurco, 1991). This data was collected from prisoners who used drugs and experienced violent behavior as a result.