The Intersections of Drug Use Continuity With Nonviolent Offending and Involvement in Violence Over the Life Course: Findings From the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development

While there is much research on the continuity of drug use over the life course, these studies tend not to consider the intersections of drug use continuity with offending in general and violence in particular. The current study uses data from 411 South London males who were participants in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development to investigate these associations from adolescence to age 50. Results suggest that the prevalence of drug use continuity (e.g., drug use in adolescence and adulthood) is rather high (45.4%) and that variability in drug use is differentially related to nonviolent offending and involvement in violence specifically. In this vein, the most pronounced relationship surrounding differential involvement in drug use is the association between drug use continuity and nonviolent offending and violence. Individual and environmental risk factors are also relevant predictors of nonviolent offending and violence. Study limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.