Psychoactive Substances and Violence

Psychoactive Substances and Violence discusses research on the links connecting violence to alcohol and illegal psychoactive drugs and evaluations of interventions to prevent violence related to these substances. Research has uncovered strong correlations between violence and psycho-active substances, including alcohol and illegal drugs, but the underlying relationships differ by type of drug. The links between violence and psychoactive substances involve broad social and economic forces, the settings in which people obtain and consume the substances, and biological processes that underlie all human behavior. Of all psychoactive substances, alcohol is the only one whose consumption has been shown to commonly increase aggression. Illegal drugs and violence are linked primarily through drug marketing.