ABSTRACT
Possessing and sometimes using controlled, potentially addictive substances are crimes in US and English law, although possessing and using legal addictive substances such as ethanol and nicotine are not. Other antisocial behaviors performed in the service of seeking and using drugs, such as burglary, robbery and homicide, are obviously serious crimes. Most users of recreational substances are not addicts and have severely limited or no potential defense to crime based on their use of controlled substances. For those who engage in drug-related criminal activity who are addicts, and therefore more likely to engage in criminal behavior, the question is how this status does and should affect their liability for criminal behavior related to the addiction.
