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Marijuana use and violent behavior are causing widespread public concern. This article reviews theory and research on the relation between marijuana use and aggressive/violent behavior. It is evident from the inconsistent findings in the literature that the exact nature of the relation remains unclear. This article identifies several possible reasons for these contradictory findings and provides suggestions for future research. In particular, more research is needed on the different subtypes of aggressive behavior. Further research is also needed to elucidate the associations between gender, marijuana use, and violent behavior. Likewise, an important task for future research is to continue to tease apart the complex relations between gang involvement, marijuana use, and violent behavior. Longitudinal studies also warrant further investigation. Moreover, future research should control for several potentially confounding variables.

This review makes four contributions to the sociological study of sports fans, alcohol use, and violent behavior. First, this article focuses explicitly on the relationship between alcohol use and violent behavior among sports fans. This is a worldwide social problem, yet it is quite understudied. Second, this article synthesizes the fragmented literature on alcohol use and violent behavior among sports fans. Third, this article identifies four broad sets of risk factors-sociocultural, event/venue, police, and crowd-that appear to be closely related to violent behavior among sports fans. Finally, to help explain the possible correlation between alcohol and violence among sports fans, this article draws upon the key understandings from the literature on alcohol and violence in wider society. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.