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Crime and Violence among MDMA Users in the United States

The question of whether MDMA use is associated with increased crime and violence has not been adequately explored especially in nationally representative samples. This study used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) to assess the association between...

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Autores principales: Vaughn, Michael G., Salas-Wright, Christopher P., DeLisi, Matt, Perron, Brian E., Cordova, David
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: AIMS Press 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5690370/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29546096
http://dx.doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2015.1.64
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author Vaughn, Michael G.
Salas-Wright, Christopher P.
DeLisi, Matt
Perron, Brian E.
Cordova, David
author_facet Vaughn, Michael G.
Salas-Wright, Christopher P.
DeLisi, Matt
Perron, Brian E.
Cordova, David
author_sort Vaughn, Michael G.
collection PubMed
description The question of whether MDMA use is associated with increased crime and violence has not been adequately explored especially in nationally representative samples. This study used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) to assess the association between MDMA use and violent and non-violent antisocial behavior while controlling for sociodemographic variables, lifetime psychiatric, alcohol and drug use disorders, and family history of antisocial behavior. MDMA users, both male and female, were involved in a number of crimes in acts of violence including drunk driving, shoplifting, theft, intimate partner violence, and fighting. Notably, female MDMA users were more antisocial than male non-MDMA users. Although adjusting the results for numerous confounds attenuated the relationships, MDMA users were still at significantly greater odds of engaging in violent and nonviolent crime than non-MDMA users. Although MDMA has been considered a facilitator of empathy and closeness, the current study suggests a dark side as MDMA is associated with a broad array of crimes and transgressions. Additional tests of the MDMA-crime link are needed to properly inform policy.
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spelling pubmed-56903702018-03-15 Crime and Violence among MDMA Users in the United States Vaughn, Michael G. Salas-Wright, Christopher P. DeLisi, Matt Perron, Brian E. Cordova, David AIMS Public Health Research Article The question of whether MDMA use is associated with increased crime and violence has not been adequately explored especially in nationally representative samples. This study used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) to assess the association between MDMA use and violent and non-violent antisocial behavior while controlling for sociodemographic variables, lifetime psychiatric, alcohol and drug use disorders, and family history of antisocial behavior. MDMA users, both male and female, were involved in a number of crimes in acts of violence including drunk driving, shoplifting, theft, intimate partner violence, and fighting. Notably, female MDMA users were more antisocial than male non-MDMA users. Although adjusting the results for numerous confounds attenuated the relationships, MDMA users were still at significantly greater odds of engaging in violent and nonviolent crime than non-MDMA users. Although MDMA has been considered a facilitator of empathy and closeness, the current study suggests a dark side as MDMA is associated with a broad array of crimes and transgressions. Additional tests of the MDMA-crime link are needed to properly inform policy. AIMS Press 2015-03-18 /pmc/articles/PMC5690370/ /pubmed/29546096 http://dx.doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2015.1.64 Text en © 2015, Michael G. Vaughn, et al., licensee AIMS Press This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
spellingShingle Research Article
Vaughn, Michael G.
Salas-Wright, Christopher P.
DeLisi, Matt
Perron, Brian E.
Cordova, David
Crime and Violence among MDMA Users in the United States
title Crime and Violence among MDMA Users in the United States
title_full Crime and Violence among MDMA Users in the United States
title_fullStr Crime and Violence among MDMA Users in the United States
title_full_unstemmed Crime and Violence among MDMA Users in the United States
title_short Crime and Violence among MDMA Users in the United States
title_sort crime and violence among mdma users in the united states
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5690370/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29546096
http://dx.doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2015.1.64
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