Crime and Drug Use The link between drug use and crime is not new. For more than two decades, both the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Justice have funded numerous studies to try to better understand the connection. One such study was conducted on heroin users in Baltimore. This study found high rates of crime among users during periods of active drug use, and much lower rates during periods of non-use (Ball et al. 1983, pp.119-142). A large number of people who abuse drugs come into contact with the criminal justice system when they are sent to prison or other correctional facilities. The criminal justice system is flooded with drug addicts. The need to expand drug abuse treatment for this group of people was recognized in the Crime Act of 1994, which for the first time provided substantial resources to federal and state jurisdictions. In this article I will argue that the use of therapeutic communities in prisons will reduce recidivism rates among people who have been released from prison. I will use the general theory of crime, which is based on self-control, to help rationalize the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund these therapeutic communities in prisons. I think if we teach these prisoners some self-control and alternative lifestyles we can prevent them from re-entering prisons once they are released. I will also describe some of today's programs that have proven to be very effective. Gottfredson and Hirschi developed the general theory of crime. According to their theory, the criminal act and the offender are separate concepts. The criminal act is perceived as an opportunity; illegal activities that people engage in when they perceive them to be beneficial. Crimes are committed when they promise rewards with minimal threat of pain or punishment. Crimes are often committed that provide easy, short-term gratification. The number of offenders may remain the same, while crime rates fluctuate due to the amount of opportunity (Siegel 1998). Criminals are people predisposed to committing crimes. This doesn't mean they don't have a choice in the matter, it just means their level of self-control is below average. When a person has limited self-control, they tend to be more impulsive and short-sighted. This ties back to crimes committed that provide easy, short-term gratification. These people do not necessarily have a tendency to commit crimes, they simply do not look at long-term consequences and tend to be reckless and self-centered (Longshore 1998, pp.