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CASA Prison Study Reaffirms That Marijuana Plays No Role In Violent Crime
The NORML Foundation
1001 Conneticut Avenue NW
Suite 710
Washington, D.C. 20036
Tel 202-483-8751 or Fax 202-483-0057
http://www.norml.org
January 8, 1998, New York, NY: Findings of a study conducted by The
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University
(CASA) conclude that marijuana alone plays no statistically significant
role in influencing one to commit a violent crime. The three year study,
entitled "Behind Bars" -- purports to be "the most comprehensive analysis
ever undertaken of the relationship of drug and alcohol abuse and
addiction to the character and size of America's prison population."
Of the findings reported by CASA, less than one percent of both state
and jail inmates were under the influence of marijuana alone when they
committed a violent crime. More than one-quarter of jail inmates and 21
percent of state inmates were under the influence of alcohol alone when
they committed a violent crime. The percentage of inmates who committed
violent crimes solely under the influence of hard drugs such as crack
cocaine and heroin stood between four and one percent.
"These findings show that alcohol is the chief intoxicant in America
that influences its users to commit violent crimes," announced Allen St.
Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation. "Not surprisingly,
marijuana plays virtually no role in encouraging violence among its
users."
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