BECAUSE CURRENT RESEARCH ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND AMPHETAMINE USE GENERALLY SUFFERS FROM A LACK OF COMPREHENSIVE, SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN, THE CONCLUSIONS DRAWN ARE REGARDED AS TENTATIVE AND OR BASED ONLY UPON THE WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE IN THIS STUDY. EVIDENCE IS BELIEVED TO SHOW TWO MAJOR POPULATIONS OF AMPHETAMINE ABUSERS WHO BECOME INVOLVED IN CRIMINAL ACTIVITY -- A GROUP HAVING SUBSTANTIAL CRIMINAL HISTORIES PRIOR TO THE FIRST USE OF AMPHETAMINE AND A SECOND GROUP COMPOSED OF WHITE, MIDDLE CLASS YOUTHS WHOSE USE OF THE DRUG IS CONSIDERED EXPLORATORY. DUE TO LACK OF DATA, IT CANNOT BE DETERMINED WHICH GROUP IS MORE PREVALENT. EVIDENCE INDICATES THAT AMPHETAMINE USE IS NOT HIGHLY CONCENTRATED AMONG CRIMINAL GROUPS, AND AMONG USERS WHO DO COMMIT CRIMES, AND THE TYPES OF OFFENSES DO NOT DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THOSE COMMITTED BY USERS OF OTHER DRUGS. THE USE OF AMPHETAMINES PER SE HAS NOT BEEN SHOWN TO BE PARTICULARLY CONDUCIVE TO VIOLENCE. IT IS INDICATED THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AMPHETAMINE USE AND VIOLENT BEHAVIOR MUST BE STUDIED FROM A MULTIVARIATE PERSPECTIVE, INCLUDING THE PHARMACOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF THE DRUG, PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS PRIOR TO AMPHETAMINE USE, THE STRUCTURE OF THE SITUATION IN WHICH DRUG USE OCCURS, AND THE ORGANIZATION OF THE AMPHETAMINE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. EXTENSIVE FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)