From: snowcap@aol.com (Snowcap) Newsgroups: alt.drugs Subject: Strong Link Between Crime and Drug Use Date: 27 Jun 1994 18:36:02 -0400 Message-ID: <2unk8i$q9g@search01.news.aol.com> Attached is a story from the Washington-based newsletter I publish (Drug Policy Report). I thought it might be of interest to newsgroup readers and I would welcome constructive comments or criticisms. Most Criminals Test Positive for Drugs In Major Cities Over 70% of Those Arrested Are Frequent Drug Users Drug use by those arrested for felony charges continues at very high rates, according to the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) Program's 1993 results. The data, which relies on urinalysis at the time of arrest, is considered more reliable than surveys that rely on self-reporting. At a House Government Operations Subcommittee hearing on "Drugs in the '90's: Emerging Trends," Carol V. Petrie, Acting Director of the National Institute of Justice, described findings from the DUF Program, which measure drug use among persons arrested for serious offenses in 23 booking facilities throughout the nation. Petrie said that in 1993, the percentage of male arrestees testing positive for any drug ranges from 54% to 81%, for females, the rate is from 42% to 83%. Male arrestees with drugs in their system exceeded 70% in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Manhattan, Miami, Philiadelphia, San Diego, and Washington D.C. Cocaine is by far the most popular drug among this population. Petrie noted that, "The criminal justice system is the single largest source of pressure on abusers to obtain treatment. Unless required by the court, drug abusers are unlikely to enter or complete treatment programs. Half or more of the admissions to typical residential or community-based treatment programs are clients of probation and parole agencies." The DUF research also indicates that: * Frequent use of hard drugs is one of the strongest indicators of a criminal career. * Offenders who use drugs are among the most serious and active criminals, engaging in both property and violent crime. * Early and persistent use of cocaine or heroin in the juvenile years is an indicator of serious, persistent criminal behavior in adulthood. * Those arrested who are drug users are more likely than those not using drugs to be rearrested on pretrial release or fail to appear at trial. For several years now heavy cocaine use projected from DUF is about three times the number of self-reported heavy cocaine users estimated from National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). The explanation, says Harvard University's Mark Kleiman, is a combination of sample exclusion (e.g., the homeless and people in halfway houses), sample selection bias (about 20% of the NHSDA sample as drawn either can't be found or refuses to answer; this may include a disproportionate share of heavy users), and under-reporting by respondents. "The NHSDA numbers have continued to drop, while the cocaine situation on the street hasn't gotten noticiably better," Kleiman said. He suggests that the point is not that NHSDA should not be conducted, but rather that "NHSDA results don't have much to do with progress against the drug problem" Most problem users aren't in the sample, aren't home, or lie about their drug use. The problem users, the ones that do the most damage to society, are precisely those caught up in the criminal justice system and measured by DUF. The latest survey again suggests that until their drug abuse decreases, it will be an uphill battle to reduce serious crime in America's cities. Kleiman suggests one way to do so would be for probation parole deptartments to impose mandadory drug abstinence on drug-involved offenders with frequent testing and swift and automatic sanction for each violation. For more information about the DUF survey, contact the Criminal Justice Reference Service at (301) 251-5739.