Why Has Middle-Aged Crime Risen?
One of the most searing lessons from examining data sources first-hand is that absolutely nothing official/media/expert sources say about youth trends can be believed. The opposite of established portrayals is more likely to be true, and the drug issue is no exception. Having ignored Americas most compelling crime trend–the explosion in arrests among adults ages 30-49–it is not surprising that established interests also would ignore the causes of the trend. Table 6 provides the most likely reason serious crime has skyrocketed since 1975 in this older group: rising drug abuse. Drug overdose deaths are not the only measure of drug abuse, but they are the best measure that is reliably tabulated over time. Their trends parallel trends shown in other, later measures such as emergency hospital treatment, testing of arrest suspects, and treatment for drug abuse. Among teenagers, drug deaths dropped dramatically from the late 1960s and early 1970s to the early 1980s. Meanwhile, Americas drug
