Friday, October 15, 2010

Methampetamine and violent women

Methamphetamine is widely recognised as being linked to violence and aggression and rates of methamphetamine-related violence among women are equal to, or even higher than, those among men. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles studied 30 women in a residential treatment programme. 80% had experienced violence in their lifetime, 67% as victim and 57% as perpetrator. Most participants descibed being violent when they were withdrawing from methamphetamine use. Five of the women said  they would never have been violent if they hadn't taken methamphetamine but 10 said that they had pre-existing 'anger issues' that had been made worse by the drug.

Hamilton, Alison B. and Goeders, Nicholas E. - Violence perpetrated by women who use methamphetamine Journal of Substance Use October 2010, 15(5), 313-329

No comments: