Pathways through opiate use and offending: A systematic review

Abstract

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 However, evidence is out of date, with studies characterised by heterogeneity and failure to use a matched non-opiate-user comparison group to better-establish whether onset-opiate use is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.

Insights into the link between drug use and criminality: Lifetime offending of criminally-active opiate users

“…The present study expands on this analysis to investigate the longitudinal relationship between opiate-use initiation and crime. The majority of research carried out to examine the association between opiate use and crime has used a single cohort, pre/post design ( Hayhurst et al, 2017 ), rather than a separate control group. Our use of offending records over the life-course, together with a suitable control group of non-using offenders, whilst also controlling for age and birth cohort, are all important design strengths.…”

“…The underlying causal mechanism(s) is likely to be more complex than these explanations suggest ( Bennett and Holloway, 2009 , Seddon, 2000 ). Our previous work has highlighted the need for longitudinal studies with a non-drug user comparison group to examine the natural history of drug use and offending ( Hayhurst et al, 2017 ). Whilst cross-sectional studies can provide information on the extent of the drug-crime association and its strength for different subgroups and offences, the aetiological debate requires longitudinal data to establish the timing of events and to gain knowledge on how the differences between users and non-users evolves over a person’s lifetime.…”

“…Current evidence about the development of drug use and offending is constrained by design flaws in published studies, particularly the absence of suitable control groups. Our recent review of the evidence base on pathways through opiate use and offending ( Hayhurst et al, 2017 ) highlighted that research has focused on comparing offending that occurs prior to the initiation of drug use with offending that occurs thereafter. A typical example is the study by Anglin and Speckart (1988) , which examined the criminal records and clinical data of male methadone patients.…”

“…A typical example is the study by Anglin and Speckart (1988) , which examined the criminal records and clinical data of male methadone patients. Most studies which make this comparison find that offending rates are substantially higher after drug-use initiation ( Hayhurst et al, 2017 ). This pre/post design fails to separate the effects of initiation from the effects of other factors which might also be related to offending, in particular, age, which correlates strongly with offending.…”

The effectiveness of diversion programmes for offenders using Class A drugs: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…However, we have previously reported that drug use expenditure is a weak predictor of acquisitive crime (Hayhurst et al, 2013), which frequently precedes the onset of Class A drug use (Pudney, 2002). The links between Class A drug use and crime are, indeed, complex and yet to be fully delineated using robust and appropriate methodology (Hayhurst et al, 2017;Seddon, 2000).…”