Weight loss drugs may be able to reduce behaviours linked to violent crime, a study has found.
Researchers believe that GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic not only help people lose weight and regulate blood sugar, but also influence behaviour by moderating the effects of impulsivity and alcohol intake.
Scientists found that higher impulsivity and alcohol use were strongly associated with violent behaviour overall, but those relationships were significantly weaker among people who used weight loss drugs. So even when a GLP-1 user drinks or acts impulsively, the situation is less likely to escalate into engaging in violent criminality, the study suggests.
“The strongest finding in the study was that the well-established link between impulsivity and violent behavior was substantially weaker among current GLP-1 users compared to former users,” said Daniel Semenza, the lead author of the study and the director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
“As GLP-1 drugs become increasingly widespread, it is important to understand all of their potential behavioral effects, including those relevant to public safety,” Professor Semenza said.
Weight-loss injections, also known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by mimicking the natural hormone which regulates blood sugar, appetite and digestion.
However, the drugs with semaglutide like Ozempic and Wegovy also work on the brain’s reward centres. GLP-1 drugs have been shown to decrease the abrupt surge of the feel-good hormone dopamine which is linked to alcohol, nicotine and even gambling addictions.
For the study published in the journal Criminology, researchers analysed data from a 2025 survey of 7,521 US adults of which 821 individuals had ever used a GLP-1 medication.
The study compared current GLP-1 users with former users and examined whether medication use changed the relationship between violent behavior, impulsivity and alcohol use.
Violent behaviour was self-reported using an “offending scale” which assessed behaviours such as fighting, assault and robbery.
Results showed the correlation between impulsivity and violent behaviour was about 62 per cent weaker among people who currently used weight loss jabs in comparison to former users. While the relationship between alcohol use and violent behaviour was about 52 per cent weaker among current users.
“Our findings are consistent with these medications working like cognitive behavioural therapy, weakening the path from impulse to action rather than eliminating impulsivity itself,” said Christopher Thomas, an assistant professor at Rutgers University-Camden and the coauthor of the study.
However, because the study was observational, researchers cannot draw any conclusions and will need more research to determine whether GLP-1 drugs actually reduce the risk of violence and the mechanisms involved.
