Does heroin-assisted treatment reduce crime? A review of randomized-controlled trials.

Existing literature suggests that heroin-assisted treatment reduces criminal activity, but trials varied in whether these effects exceeded those from oral methadone treatment. Inconsistency in outcome measures across trials complicates understanding drivers of heterogeneity. More detailed information on legal and illegal income, drug expenditures and social interactions could improve our understanding of the causal mechanisms underlying the effect of heroin-assisted-treatment on crime.