August 26, 2014 | The use of alcohol significantly increases one’s likelihood of becoming either a perpetrator or a victim of a violent act, including acts of intimate partner violence.
As for cannabis use — that’s a different story.
In fact, according to a just-published study in the journal Psychology and Addictive Behaviors, couples who use pot are particularly unlikely to engage in intimate partner violence.
Investigators at Yale University, Rutgers, and the University of Buffalo assessed over 600 couples to determine whether husbands’ and wives’ pot use was predictive of domestic abuse at any time during the first nine years of marriage. Researchers reported: “In fully adjusted models, we found that more frequent marijuana use by husbands and wives predicted less frequent IPV (intimate partner violence) perpetration by husbands. Husbands’ marijuana use also predicted less frequent IPV perpetration by wives. Moderation analyses demonstrated that couples in which both spouses used marijuana frequently reported the least frequent IPV perpetration.”
Although investigators did note an association between wives’ marijuana use and their propensity for violence, this correlation only existed among women who possessed a past history of violence prior to marriage.
Investigators concluded, “These findings suggest there may be an overall inverse association between marijuana use and IPV perpetration in newly married couples.”
By By Paul Armentano
Read the full story at alternet.org
