title: Drugs and aggression: correlations, crime and human manipulative studies and some proposed mechanisms.
abstract: Violence and drugs seem to mix readily. In this paper, relevant correlational studies are briefly reviewed and methodological issues are discussed. With a focus on alcohol, facts pointing to some type of causal relationship are presented both from crime and laboratory manipulative studies. Dose and rate-dependent anxiolytic, psychomotor stimulant and alteration in inhibitory and problem-solving cognitive functions are each in turn seen as precipatory to aggression. Drugs other than alcohol which interact with these systems are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Pihl
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000523:psychology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs