Ongoing cocaine and benzodiazepine use: Effects on acquisitive crime committal rates amongst opiate users in treatment

Comiskey, Catherine; Stapleton, Robert; Kelly, Paul

doi:10.3109/09687637.2012.668977

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Individuals with opioid use, prescription drug misuse, or injection drug use Benzodiazepine misuse was associated with criminal involvement (Comiskey et al, 2012;Darke et al, 2010;Hammersley et al, 1992;Hammersley and Morrison, 1987;Horyniak et al, 2016;Sutherland et al, 2015) Votaw et al…”

Section: Criminalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The epidemiology of benzodiazepine misuse: A systematic review

Votaw

Geyer

Rieselbach

et al. 2019

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

288

214

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Benzodiazepine misuse is a growing public health problem, with increases in benzodiazepine-related overdose deaths and emergency room visits in recent years. However, relatively little attention has been paid to this emergent problem. We systematically reviewed epidemiological studies on benzodiazepine misuse to identify key findings, limitations, and future directions for research. Methods: PubMed and PsychINFO databases were searched through February 2019 for peerreviewed publications on benzodiazepine misuse (e.g., use without a prescription; at a higher frequency or dose than prescribed). Eligibility criteria included human studies that focused on the prevalence, trends, correlates, motives, patterns, sources, and consequences of benzodiazepine misuse. Results: The search identified 1,970 publications, and 351 articles were eligible for data extraction and inclusion. In 2017, benzodiazepines and other tranquilizers were the third most commonly used illicit or prescription drug in the U.S. (approximately 2.2% of the population). Worldwide rates of misuse appear to be similar to those reported in the U.S. Factors associated with misuse include other substance use, receipt of a benzodiazepine prescription, and psychiatric symptoms and disorders. Benzodiazepine misuse encompasses heterogeneous presentations of motives, patterns, and sources. Moreover, misuse is associated with myriad poor outcomes, including mortality, HIV/HCV risk behaviors, poor self-reported quality of life, criminality, and continued substance use during treatment.

show abstract

Section: Criminalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The epidemiology of benzodiazepine misuse: A systematic review

Votaw

Geyer

Rieselbach

et al. 2019

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

288

214

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The drug-crime link appears particularly compelling among individuals with frequent and problematic use of opiates, such as heroin (Kaye, Darke, & Finlay-Jones, 1998), and/or crack cocaine (Bennett et al, 2008, Comiskey et al, 2012). Evidence synthesis concludes that the odds of offending are six times greater for crack users than non-crack users and three times greater for heroin users than non-heroin users (Bennett et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways through opiate use and offending: A systematic review

Hayhurst

Pierce

Hickman

et al. 2017

International Journal of Drug Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundAlthough evidence points to a strong link between illicit drug use and crime, robust evidence for temporal order in the relationship is scant. We carried out a systematic review to assess the evidence for pathways through opiate/crack cocaine use and offending to determine temporal order.MethodsA systematic review sourced five databases, three online sources, bibliographies and citation mapping. Inclusion criteria were: focus on opiate/crack use, and offending; pre-drug use information; longitudinal design; corroborative official crime records. Rate ratios (RR) of post-drug use initiation to pre-drug use initiation were pooled using random effects meta-analysis.Results20 studies were included; UK (9) and US (11). All were of opiate use. Mean age at (recorded) offending onset (16.7 yrs) preceded mean age at opiate-use onset (19.6 yrs). Substantial heterogeneity (over 80%: unexplained by meta-regression) meant that RRs were not pooled. The RR for total (recorded) offending ranged from 0.71 to 25.7 (10 studies; 22 subsamples: positive association, 4: equivocal, 1: negative association). Positive associations were observed in 14/15 independent samples; unlikely to be a chance finding (sign test p = 0.001).Individual offence types were examined: theft (RR 0.63–8.3, 13 subsamples: positive, 9: equivocal, 1 negative); burglary (RR 0.74–50.0, 9 subsamples: positive, 13: equivocal); violence (RR 0.39–16.0, 6 subsamples: positive, 15: equivocal); and robbery (RR 0.50–5.0, 5 subsamples: positive, 15: equivocal).ConclusionsAvailable evidence suggests that onset-opiate use accelerates already-existing offending, particularly for theft. However, evidence is out of date, with studies characterised by heterogeneity and failure to use a matched non-opiate-user comparison group to better-establish whether onset-opiate use is associated with additional crime.

show abstract

“…Substance misuse, including problematic drug and alcohol use, are significant issues in society that can have multiple detrimental effects. Substance misuse is implicated in a number of criminal offences, including acquisitive crime (Comiskey et al 2012; Hayhurst et al 2013), anti-social and violent behavior (Boden et al 2012; Lundholm et al 2013), domestic and intimate partner violence (Stuart et al 2008; Wilson et al 2017) and child neglect Solis et al (2012). Links between substance use and criminal behavior are identified within the research literature (Bennett et al 2008; Hough 2002; Schroeder et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of the Breaking Free Online Health and Justice program for substance misuse in prison settings

Elison-Davies¹,

Davies²,

Ward³

et al. 2018

Health Justice

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundSubstance misuse, including problematic drug and alcohol use, are significant issues in society that can have multiple detrimental effects. Many people access support for their substance misuse during prison sentences, due to the associations between substance misuse and offending, and the high proportion of the prison population who have drug and alcohol issues. Breaking Free Online Health and Justice is a computer-assisted therapy program that has been developed to support substance-involved offenders to address their substance misuse and associated offending within prison settings.MethodsThis will be a parallel-group randomized controlled trial of 4-week Breaking Free Online Health and Justice program as an adjunct to standard treatment for substance misuse, in comparison to standard treatment only, in a male Category D open prison. Interventional and control groups will be compared in terms of the changes in their scores on multiple measures from baseline to post-treatment assessment at 4-weeks, and then 3- and 6-months follow-up. Participants will be adult male offenders serving sentences in prison in England who have demonstrable difficulties with drugs and/or alcohol for at least the past 12-months. The primary outcome measure will be self-reported substance misuse, with secondary outcomes being standardized psychometric assessments of substance dependence, mental health, biopsychosocial functioning, quality of life and post-release offending. Other secondary measures will include frequency of completion of specific intervention strategies in the program.DiscussionThis study will examine whether Breaking Free Online Health and Justice as an adjunct to standard substance misuse interventions in prisons, improves outcomes for substance-involved offenders receiving interventions in custodial settings. Findings from the study will be used to inform further developments of the program and potential improvements to custodial treatment.Trials registrationISRCTN09846981.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40352-018-0078-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

show abstract

Ongoing cocaine and benzodiazepine use: Effects on acquisitive crime committal rates amongst opiate users in treatment

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

The epidemiology of benzodiazepine misuse: A systematic review

The epidemiology of benzodiazepine misuse: A systematic review

Pathways through opiate use and offending: A systematic review

Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of the Breaking Free Online Health and Justice program for substance misuse in prison settings

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About