According to the study, of more than 3,000 people arrested in 2000 and 2001 and sent to the Sacramento County jail, the highest percentage of violent offenses was found among those who were not using illicit drugs.

"That flies in the face of what we expect to find," said Carole Barnes, director of the Institute for Social Research at California State University at Sacramento. "You don't need to be high to be violent."

Treatment experts who work with battered women and drug users, however, said the findings were not surprising. "Substance abuse is not the cause of domestic violence," said Nicolette Bautista, executive director of Women Escaping A Violent Environment (WEAVE). "The cause of it is a controlling personality. It's about power and control."

And Trish Stanionis, executive director of a Sacramento drug-treatment center, said that although many of her program's clients have committed property crimes to support their addiction, most have not committed violent crimes.

However, the research found that alcohol use is often a key factor in domestic violence. According to the study, the highest percentage of domestic-violence crimes were committed by people who admitted to a heavy use of alcohol, but did not test positive for other drugs.

"The results of this study call into question the link between illegal drug use and violent criminal behavior," the researchers concluded. "And they raise concerns about the legal consumption of alcohol and its contribution to domestic violence."

The study was conducted in partnership with the federal Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) project, run by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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