What's Drugs Got to Do with It? Examining the Relationship Between Drug Onset and Duration with Criminal Outcomes in an African American Cohort

Overview

Journal Addict Behav

Specialties Psychiatry
Social Sciences

Date 2020 Jul 21

PMID 32688227

Citations 2

Authors

Kerry M Green

Elaine E Doherty

Margaret E Ensminger

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The association of drug use onset and duration with criminal careers has rarely been studied over the life course among African Americans, who are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system.

Methods: This study uses data from a community cohort of urban African Americans, first assessed at age 6 (n = 1242) and followed into midlife. Data come from both self-reports (n = 1053 in adulthood) and official crime records (n = 1217). Regression analyses among those who used marijuana, cocaine, and/or heroin and had complete arrest data (n = 614) assess the association between adolescent vs. adult initiation, short vs. long duration of use, and their interaction with the outcomes of arrest, incarceration, and criminal career length, as well as meeting criteria for a drug use disorder.

Results: Findings show that onset and duration are highly related, but when independent effects of duration and onset are assessed, only duration is a statistically significant predictor of all four crime outcomes, as well as a predictor of meeting criteria for a drug use disorder in adjusted regression models. Associations of duration with arrests held for all crime types (i.e., drug, property, violence). Adolescent vs. adult drug onset only predicted meeting lifetime criteria for a drug use disorder. The interaction of onset and duration was not statistically significant in any models. No appreciable differences were observed in gender specific models.

Discussion: Findings suggest that shortening drug use duration may have a greater impact on reducing the association of drug use with crime for African Americans than delaying onset.

Citing Articles

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Blum K, Steinberg B, Gondre-Lewis M, Baron D, Modestino E, Badgaiyan R Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2021; 14:2115-2134.

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