The problem of aggressive actions committed by drug abusers is relevant to modern criminology, psychology, forensic psychiatry, and narcology. Drugs, like alcohol, have long been considered disinhibiting substances that stimulate inappropriate behavior. From the point of view of American researchers, substance abuse increases the chances of subjects being drawn into conflict relationships. It is widely known that individuals who committed violent crimes were often in a state of drug or alcohol intoxication.
At the same time, distortions of the emotional sphere, prevailing malicious feelings, the need for revenge, and destruction acquire special significance; these feelings easily arise and are expressed in extreme, crude forms. Different drugs, as clinical and life observations show, have different criminogenic characteristics. Crimes of violence against the person are characteristic of abusers of sleeping pills, hashish, and stimulants. Sexual crimes, pedophilia, and homosexuality characterize stimulant abusers.
The juvenile aspect of this problem should also be carefully considered. Violent crimes and acts of vandalism on the part of teenage drug addicts are mostly characterized by destructiveness and cruelty. These features are enhanced both by the direct action of intoxicating drugs and by resulting personality distortion with constant anesthesia. It must be remembered that in addition to spontaneous illegal impulses, the behavior of a minor is determined by the requirements of the group, and the attitudes of the deviant subculture. Moreover, such teenagers are easily recruited by adult criminals, further increasing the level of criminality in society. As practical experience shows, juvenile delinquency today means an increase in adult crime tomorrow. A special social danger of adolescent addiction is that the abuse in their environment quickly becomes widespread. Drugs are often used by non-drug addicts as a means of crime, with openly criminal purposes. Thus, psychedelic substances are used to commit sexual, mercenary, and violent crimes and, in some cases, murders. Drugs with a pronounced euphoric effect can be used for the molestation of both male and female adolescents and subsequent sexual exploitation.
Addiction to alcohol and drugs has a twofold connection with violent crime. On the one hand, these substances provoke criminal behavior and aggression; on the other, criminal behavior deepens dependence on them. There is no doubt that further studies are relevant, as they can contribute to the development of effective approaches aimed at reducing the level of aggressiveness of drug abusers.