NCJ Number
137545
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 17 Issue: 3/4 Dated: (1992) Pages: 101-111
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
All persons committed to North Carolina's Department of Corrections in 1988 served as subjects in this study that examined the relationship between reported substance intoxication and violent crime.
Abstract
The findings suggested that drug use declines with increasing age among prison admissions, but that older admissions who continue to use drugs choose more potent substances including cocaine and heroin. Comparisons across all age groups found that polydrug use most often involved alcohol and marijuana rather than a broad spectrum of mood-altering drugs. Polydrug users seemed to limit their drugs of regular use. The results also suggested that alcohol intoxication, rather than illicit drug use, encouraged violent crime. Intoxication with alcohol-free, mood-altering drugs reduced violent crime among incarcerated criminal offenders. However, these data were limited in that they did not provide specific data on drugs, dosages, or degree of violence preceding and following intoxication. Admissions included first-time and repeat offenders who probably presented different drug use and drug abuse profiles. 1 table, 2 figures, 1 note, and 20 references