Drugged druggists: The convergence of two criminal career trajectories*

Abstract

In-depth interviews with 50 recovering, drug-addicted pharmacists reveal two distinct paths of entry into drug use. One group (N = 23), termed “recreational abusers,” was drawn into the euphoric effects of prescription drugs. The other group (N = 27), termed “therapeutic self-medicators,” began using prescription drugs for medicinal reasons. These two distinct modes of entry eventually converged into a single, common criminal career trajectory with common themes observable among all mature deviants. Early differentiation, followed by subsequent convergence of behaviors and motivations, suggests that some theorists and practitioners alike may have erroneously concluded that they have discovered multiple, static types of crime and criminals when they in fact have examined a single criminal-deviant career at different points along its dynamic trajectory.