Drug Use, Violence and Anti-social Behaviour

Abstract

There is widespread evidence that individuals who are addicted to drugs commit a large variety of criminal acts (Voss and Stephens, 1973; Gandossy et al., 1980; Inciardi, 1981; Johnson et al., 1985; Stephens, 1991). Income-generating offences perpetrated by drug users to obtain drugs or money for drugs have already been discussed in Chapter 5. Acquisitive crimes are not, however, the only forms of illegal activity with which drug users are commonly associated. Non-acquisitive crimes — especially violent behaviour such as assault, public-order offences and even homicide — are often considered an endemic feature of the drug-using lifestyle.