Social Policy

Second-Hand Drug Effect?

Proximity to drug and alcohol abuse increases the risk of death for non-users, according to a study reported today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

  • Non-users in households where illegal drugs are used are 11 times as likely to be killed as those living in drug-free homes.

  • Non-drinkers in households where alcoholism exists are 70 percent more likely to be killed.

  • The study also found that people who mix alcohol with drugs are 16.6 times more at risk for suicide and 12 times more at risk for homicide than those who abuse neither.

The link between violence and drug use, the researchers suggested, may result from "drug-seeking activities, such as interaction with drug dealers or theft to obtain resources for drug purchase."

The study, by researchers at four universities -- Washington, Tennessee, Case Western Reserve and Emory -- was based on medical examiners' reports of 438 suicides and 388 homicides occurring at home in Seattle, Memphis and Cleveland.

Source: Christopher S. Wren, "Saying 'No' to Drugs But Dying in Violence," New York Times, August 20, 1997.

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