NCJ Number
189101
Date Published
December 2001
Length
63 pages
Publication Series
Annotation
This document presents findings from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program.
Abstract
The ADAM program measures the extent of drug use in the high-risk population of people who have been arrested. Of the 38 sites that participate in the program, data about male arrestees were available from 27 and are included. The forthcoming annual report will present data for men, women, and juvenile arrestees from all 38 sites. ADAM has its roots in the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program, established in 1987 by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to provide participating communities with information for developing drug-control strategies and related public-policy responses. Two major, recent changes in ADAM were the adoption of a sampling strategy designed to improve the reliability of the findings and inclusion in the survey instrument of new questions that permit more in-depth examination of issues related to drug use. Information from this study comes from interviews and urinalyses obtained voluntarily and recorded confidentially. In 2000 the levels of drug use detected were high. Findings here focus on marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates, and PCP – the “NIDA-5” drugs. Sixty-five percent or more of the arrestees had recently used at least one of the NIDA-5 drugs. The data from self-reports are probably conservative estimates of drug use. In most of the sites reported here, the adult male arrestees were over the age of 32. In half the sites, 30 percent or more of the arrestees did not have a high school diploma. A finding is that a large proportion of crack cocaine purchases still takes place outdoors. Another is that few attempts to purchase drugs ended in failure and police activity was rarely cited as the reason. ADAM’s new capacity for computerized mapping enables researchers and criminal justice agencies to identify geographical concentrations of dependence, and could help inform decisions on where to site treatment facilities. Footnotes, 11 tables, 27 references, 3 appendices
Date Published: December 1, 2001