HaCKeRz KrOnIcKLeZ 3/HaCKeRz_KrOnIcKLeZ.iso/drugs/crime.link

Internet Message Format | 1996-05-06 | 4KB

From: [e-mail] (Snowcap)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Strong Link Between Crime and Drug Use
Date: 27 Jun 1994 18:36:02 -0400
Message-ID: <2unk8i$[e-mail]>

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 [phone].