expothead
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2007
- Messages
- 708
AMPHETAMINE use may not increase the risk of violence, according to new research released by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
In a study of 99,262 offenders aged 15 or older, the bureau found that offenders with a prior amphetamine-related conviction were no more likely to commit a violent offence than those with no prior drugs charges.
Only 1.7 per cent, or 1660 of those convicted of one or more offences in 2005, had been charged with an amphetamine-related offence in the preceding five years, the bureau found.
Despite casting doubt on the assumed link between amphetamines and violence, bureau director Don Weatherburn played down the findings.
"Our measure of amphetamine use tells us nothing about the frequency of such use or the average quantities being consumed by an amphetamine user," he said.
"Further research is needed looking at the relationship between these factors and violence before we have a clear picture of how amphetamine use affects the risk of involvement in violence."
However, those with a prior non-amphetamine drug charge were more likely to be charged with a violent act, the study found.
"The main drug-related finding was that convicted offenders with a prior non-amphetamine drug charge had moderately greater odds of having a future violent charge than those with no prior drug charges," the report said.
But those most likely to commit a violent offence were those who had committed six or more offences of a non-violent, non-drug nature.
They had a 4.5 times higher chance of being charged with a violent act, the report found.
"The strongest predictor of a future violent charge was having a greater number of charges relating to non-violent/non-drug offences," the report said.
"The odds of having a future charge for a violent offence were over four times greater for a convicted offender with six or more prior non-violent/non-drug charges than an offender with no prior non-violent/non drug charges."
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25109457-29277,00.html