ALCOHOL AND VIOLENCE - A COLD, HARD FACT

AS politicians wrestle with the heroin menace, new research shows the
drug most likely to lead to violent or reckless behaviour is probably
in your fridge.

Alcohol was by far the most common culprit when it came to acts of
physical and verbal aggression, according to a study by the National
Centre for Research into the Prevention of Drug Abuse, undertaken in
collaboration with the West Australian police.

"Almost all respondents reported experiencing their own or another's
verbal aggression after drinking alcohol," the study found.
"Experiences with alcohol-related physical aggression were almost
universal."

In contrast, illegal drugs such as cannabis and heroin were felt to
reduce the likelihood of violent behaviour.

The researchers surveyed 166 people, 90 of whom had been processed by
West Australian police CIB squads for questioning or arrest but not
remanded in custody, and 76 adult prisoners.

Almost all of those surveyed had used one or more illicit drugs and 60
per cent had injected an illicit drug at least once.

However, researchers found that verbal aggression was most likely to
be associated with the use of the legal drug alcohol, followed by
amphetamines, heroin and benzodiazepines (tranquillisers).

They also found that the majority of crimes committed by illicit drug
users were "acquisitive", such as break and enters, burglaries and
frauds.

"This finding disputes the commonly held belief that people who use
illicit drugs are likely to engage in reckless or violent behaviour,"
the report said.

However, the researchers stressed that the small sample size meant the
study results should be seen as indicative rather than conclusive.

"It is important that findings from this study are used as a basis for
larger-scale research to further investigate the links between drug
use and crime in the community," they said.