Crack and hack; or, the secret link between meth, identity theft, and the Internet

Bruce Schneier points to a New York Times article about the discovery of a relationship between meth use and identity theft. Essentially, the argument is that the particular nature of meth addiction, and its highly decentralized production, mean that "For these drug users... identity theft was the perfect support system."

First, the high. Meth users are "awake for days at a time and able to fixate on small details.... [B]ecause the drug has a long high, addicts have patience and energy for crimes that take several steps to pay off." Contrast this to crack use, which "creates a rapid craving for more, [forcing] addicts [to] commit crimes that pay off instantly, even at high risk."

Second, the production angle:

Methamphetamine... can be manufactured in small laboratories that move about suburban or rural areas, where addicts are more likely to steal mail from unlocked boxes. Small manufacturers, in turn, use stolen identities to buy ingredients or pay rent without arousing suspicion.

In contrast, both producers and users of crack and heroin have an incentive to locate in

well-defined urban strips run by armed gangs, which stimulates gun traffic and crimes that are suited to densely populated neighborhoods, including mugging, prostitution, carjacking and robbery....

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[bezad ardy]

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