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NEWS: ABC 24/09/07- Most murder victims drunk or on drugs: report

Chronik Fatigue

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Sep 23, 2005
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Most murder victims drunk or on drugs: report

Posted 7 hours 12 minutes ago
Speed link: Amphetamine users are more likely to be shot than those on other drugs

A new study has found the majority of murder victims in Australia are under the influence of some kind of drug when they are killed.

The study by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre has found substances were detected in 62 per cent of murder victims.

About one third of victims had illicit drugs in their system and almost half had been drinking alcohol.

Centre spokesman professor Shane Darke says murder is not a risk normally associated with substance abuse.

"We think of things like overdose or disease and these are valid risks, but what we don't look at is the violence," he said.

Fights are the most common cause of death for those who had alcohol in their system, while amphetamine users are more likely to be shot.

Professor Darke says that statistic is probably related to organised crime.

"[It is] consistent with what we've seen in the US with cocaine," he said.

"Psycho-stimulant drugs seem to involve some association with gang violence and particularly with firearms."
ABC
 
Most homicides linked to drugs, alcohol: study
Kate Benson Medical Reporter
September 24, 2007

ALMOST two-thirds of homicide victims have alcohol or drugs in their bodies when they are killed and 60 per cent of those who die in a fight are intoxicated, researchers have found.

The study, which looked at autopsies of 485 homicide victims in NSW over 10 years, found that those who got drunk or took drugs had a far greater risk of being murdered because they reacted differently to dangerous situations.

"Things that happen when you are intoxicated don't usually happen when you are sober," the study's author, Professor Shane Darke, of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of NSW, said yesterday.

"People say things they would not normally say, or they take offence, or they misinterpret something and a fight starts, and someone ends up dead. The great tragedy is that many of these people would probably still be alive if they had been sober at the time of the incident."

The study found that 68 per cent of male homicide victims had a substance - such as alcohol, cannabis, heroin, crystal methamphetamine, cocaine or benzodiazepines - in their blood at the time of death, with 46 per cent testing positive to alcohol, 24 per cent to cannabis and 10 per cent to stimulants.

"These figures are stratospheric when compared to the rest of the population," Professor Darke said. "Only about 9 per cent of the population are daily drinkers and 2 per cent daily cannabis users, but they are grossly over-represented in these statistics."

Professor Darke said those who died as a result of a fight were more likely to have alcohol or cannabis in their systems, while heroin or methamphetamine were more prominent in those who died from gun shot wounds.

"If you are heavily addicted to a drug or involved in drug dealing, violence is often swirling about you, but we found in this study that the most common victims were men at the pub or on the street at night, or women at home."

Almost half of domestic violence victims had alcohol in their blood, 21 per cent tested positive to cannabis and 29 per cent had an illicit drug in their system, the study found.

"Usually a couple has been drinking at home and gets into a fight. They have access to knives in the kitchen and someone ends up dead," Professor Darke said.

"We often talk about the risks of overdose and disease when we think about illegal drugs [but] we also need to talk about the substantial risk of violent death.

"The message from this study is that people are taking great risks when they drink or take drugs, and it's not just from the substances themselves."

SMH
 
Well of course there's going to be a link between violence and drugs when you force drugs to become intertwined with criminal activities 8)

Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.

They're trying to make it out like taking drugs somehow inherently increases your chances of getting shot.

Alcohol & fighting is kinda a no brainer though.
 
^^ Yup, the sensationalist nature of the article can be seen in this sentence

"Speed link: Amphetamine users are more likely to be shot than those on other drugs"

A more balanced approach would have said something like- "Gunshot victims more likely to use amphetmines than any other drugs"- Instead they make it sound like amphetamine users are more likely to be gunshot victims, which is of course a load of BS.
 
Or shot by their dealers after they won't pay up cuz they spent all their money on meth.
 
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