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Meta-Analysis
. 2017 Jan:39:1-13.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.08.015. Epub 2016 Oct 19.

Pathways through opiate use and offending: A systematic review

Karen P Hayhurst  1 , Matthias Pierce  2 , Matthew Hickman  3 , Toby Seddon  4 , Graham Dunn  5 , John Keane  6 , Tim Millar  2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Pathways through opiate use and offending: A systematic review

Karen P Hayhurst et al. Int J Drug Policy. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Although 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.

Methods: A 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.

Results: 20 studies were included; UK (9) and US (11). All were of opiate use. Mean age at (recorded) offending onset (16.7yrs) preceded mean age at opiate-use onset (19.6yrs). 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).

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 However, evidence is out of date, with studies characterised by heterogeneity and failure to use a matched non-opiate-user comparison group to better-establish whether onset-opiate use is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

Keywords: Crime; Opiate use; Substance abuse; Systematic review.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Review search: PRISMA flow diagram.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Rate ratios: total recorded offending. (All paired studies.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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