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Does marijuana use lead to aggression and violent behavior?
1Southern Utah University, Cedar City, UT 84720, USA. Ostrowsky@suu.edu
Journal of Drug Education
|March 30, 2012
Summary
Research on marijuana use and violent behavior shows inconsistent findings, indicating an unclear relationship. Future studies should explore subtypes of aggression, gender, and gang involvement to clarify these complex associations.
Area of Science:
- Criminology
- Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Public concern exists regarding the link between marijuana use and violent behavior.
- Existing research presents inconsistent findings on this relationship.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review existing theory and research on the marijuana use-violent behavior connection.
- To identify reasons for contradictory findings and suggest future research directions.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of theoretical and empirical studies.
- Analysis of inconsistencies in current research findings.
Main Results:
- The exact nature of the relationship between marijuana use and aggressive/violent behavior remains unclear.
- Several potential reasons for contradictory findings have been identified.
Conclusions:
- Further research is needed to clarify the complex associations.
- Future studies should investigate subtypes of aggression, gender differences, gang involvement, and control for confounding variables, utilizing longitudinal designs.
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