The use of illicit drugs in the practice of homicide

Abstract

Introduction: The impact of violence on urban development has been an important subject of attention  lately. The consequences of the exposure to violence,  such as homicides  and drug consumption , in particular, result in  physiological, neurological and interpersonal alterations. Objective- This study has the objective of  verifying the relation between the exposure to community violence and  the use of  illegal drugs and  engagement in criminal activities. Methods: This is a retrospective study with an observational and descriptive approach. It was conducted by analyzing  the medical records of  prisoners who  were convicted of murder andtypifying the crime and information about the use of illegal drugs. Results:  Out of 40 convicted prisoners  whose medical records where analyzed, 100%  were male with the prevalence  of the 21 to 40 years-old age group (n=30, 75%). As for their schooling, 47.5% (n=19) did not  finish elementary school, 35% (n=14) were illiterate and 17.5% (n=7) finished high school.  Filtering the data by th type of crime, it was observed that all prisoners have been convicted of murder, based on futile motivations, as described in  article 121. Conclusion: Under the influence of illegal  drugs people tend to lose their emotional control and display symptoms like: hallucinations, euphoria, psychosis, among others, which could be a motivation to the practice of crimes with exquisite cruelty.