In today’s reality, widespread access to illegal substances and extremely limited state control over their distribution has led to a serious increase in the number of citizens suffering from drug addiction. Addiction itself, in its broadest sense (from drugs, gambling, alcohol, etc.) is a serious criminogenic factor, insofar as it requires more or less financial resources, which addicts often obtain by committing illegal acts – usually those directed against property.
The condition known as “drug addiction” is not always grounds for the perpetrator of a crime not to be held criminally liable or for such liability not to be enforced against him.
In this article, we will discuss in which cases established drug addiction can be an “excuse” for a crime and to what extent this excuse can be extended.
Cases from the law firm
Given that Silvia Petkova Sole Proprietorship Law Firm specializes in working with addicted perpetrators of serious crimes, the firm has handled dozens of cases, each of which reveals different characteristics. Despite the large number of available examples, we will focus on two of them, as they relate to the most common types of crimes committed under conditions of drug addiction.
Case 1:
Borislav* suffers from drug addiction—he has been actively using heroin for the past 15 years. Realizing he had a problem, he decided to enroll in a methadone treatment program, which he attended regularly for a year. He stopped using heroin but began replacing it with marijuana, stimulants, and alcohol.
Long-term and ongoing use of narcotic substances ultimately leads to serious impairment of his ability to correctly perceive reality, due to which it leads and to the commission of a crime by him on his part, and namely bodily harm to a police officer.
The incident unfolded after Borislav was attacked and robbed by a group of individuals. He called the emergency number 112, and a police patrol arrived at the scene of the incident. The law enforcement officers noticed that Borislav’s behavior was completely inappropriate—he was talking incoherently, was disoriented, his pupils were greatly dilated, and he smelled strongly of alcohol. Therefore, the police officers decided to detain him in order to sober him up and prevent him from harming himself.
However, Borislav decides that these individuals are undercover police officers attempting to kidnap him on behalf of a criminal group, which he believes is persecuting him. As a result of this perception, when one handcuff is placed on him, he begins to resist fiercely, striking one of the police officers several times and cutting his eyebrow. He calms down only when the gendarmerie team arrives, as he considers only them to be real police officers. He leaves with them voluntarily and without any resistance.
Borislav is being prosecuted for causing bodily harm to a public official in the performance of his duties.
Case 2:
Tihomir* also suffers from drug addiction – “herb” (a type of synthetic cannabinoid). He comes from a family with very limited financial resources, and he himself is unemployed, so he has no means to support his addiction. However, the withdrawal symptoms are stronger than his will to abstain, and there is only one way to obtain herb – through theft.
Three criminal proceedings have been initiated against Tihomir for theft and one for robbery.
* Names have been changed to protect client confidentiality.
When is it considered that there is a drug addiction?
The diagnosis of drug addiction is a task for psychiatric science according to the criteria set out in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision.
According to these diagnostic criteria, a definitive diagnosis of “drug dependence” can be made if, over the past 12 months prior to the examination, the patient has exhibited three or more of the following signs:
- a strong desire or feeling of inner compulsion to take psychotropic substances;
- difficulty controlling drug intake in terms of when to start, stop, or how much to use;
- manifestation of withdrawal symptoms (acute abstinence) upon cessation of drug use; these symptoms have different manifestations for different substances;
- increased tolerance to the substance: the need to take higher doses to achieve the effect that was initially achieved with lower doses;
- lack of interest in activities other than use;
- continuing to use something despite obvious harmful consequences.
Once the diagnosis has been confirmed, it is extremely important to take adequate measures to treat gambling addiction, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, etc. in order to help the addict recover. The question of “how to treat addiction” is the subject of research in psychiatric science.
In which cases can established drug addiction be excused as a reason for committing a crime?
As mentioned above, simply establishing drug addiction is not grounds for exempting the perpetrator of the crime from criminal liability.
The first condition for addiction to be recognized as an “excuse” for a crime is that it must have caused prolonged (as in the case of Borislav) or a short-term mental disorder (as in the case of Tihomir) such that the perpetrator was unable to understand the nature or significance of their actions and/or was unable to control their behavior. This means that the perpetrator must not have understood what exactly he was doing and that it was illegal, or if he did understand, he was unable to stop doing it for some objective reasons. Such an objective reason would be the severe withdrawal symptoms that manifested themselves before the decision to commit theft in order to obtain funds to purchase drugs.
In fact, it is customary for a criminal act committed under any of the existing dependencies to be carried out with an understanding of both the nature and significance of the act, but with no possibility of controlling the behavior, i.e. in the absence of the possibility for the perpetrator to choose not to commit the crime, but also not to obtain the drug. This means that at a certain stage of the disease “drug addiction,” it is often the case that the addict cannot make a conscious choice to go without their dose if obtaining it can only be done by committing a crime.
Interesting! In the case of gambling addiction, the funds needed to support it are often obtained through crime—usually theft or embezzlement. This is because, in such cases, the addict often finds themselves in a position where they have no other means of obtaining money, having gambled away their entire salary, gambled away personal or family valuables and other possessions, has taken out and failed to repay loans from banks and other financial institutions, which is why they no longer lend him money, and is in debt to friends and sometimes to loan sharks.
It is precisely in these scenarios that an irresistible urge to gamble or use drugs can lead to the commission of a crime, despite a clear awareness that the act is illegal.
What are the means of protection in the event of a crime committed by a person suffering from drug addiction?
As in any criminal case, the line of defense is prepared for each specific case after a detailed review of the facts and evidence, and its successful implementation requires the participation of an experienced and specialized criminal lawyer. The general principle in such cases requires the mandatory appointment of a judicial psychological and psychiatric examination to determine whether, at the time of the offense, the perpetrator suffered from drug addiction and whether this addiction affected their ability to understand the nature or significance of their actions or to control their behavior.
If it is established that there is an influence on the specified abilities, the task of the expertise will be to establish whether they are completely excluded or a19> or are significantly reduced. In the first case the result of the criminal proceedings is receiving an acquittal a30> verdict, and in the second – a significantly reduced sentence.
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You can find more interesting topics related to the firm’s work in the field of criminal justice in the section “Criminal Law.”
Silvia Petkova Sole Proprietorship Law Firm is the only criminal law firm in the country with extensive experience and specialization in working with offenders who are addicted to drugs, gambling, and alcohol.
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