NCJ Number
166173
Date Published
1994
Length
19 pages
Annotation
A survey of 1,001 Americans, conducted in 1994 to explore attitudes toward the drug problem and drug policies, found that 7 in 10 Americans viewed drug abuse as a greater problem than they did 5 years earlier.
Abstract
Four in 10 Americans said the drug problem forced them to change the way they lived by making their homes more secure, staying inside at night, and avoiding certain areas. Few respondents felt elected officials were doing everything possible to solve the drug problem. Nearly half of Americans had been personally touched by drugs; 45 percent indicated they knew someone who became addicted to a drug other than alcohol. When asked about their preferred allocation of funds to fight the drug problem at the community level, nearly half recommended dividing funds equally between law enforcement and drug prevention, education, and treatment. Americans strongly supported mandatory prison sentences for drug dealers, although many favored training and job opportunities. The public was evenly divided in terms of approaches to the drug problem; 46 percent preferred strict sentencing, law enforcement, and interdiction, while 44 percent favored job opportunities and drug prevention, education, and treatment. Of the 45 percent of Americans who personally knew someone who became addicted to drugs, 7 in 10 felt their addicted acquaintance would have been helped more by entering a supervised treatment program than by being sentenced to a minimum prison term. Drug interdiction strategies received relatively low effectiveness ratings. Fact sheets are included on drug abuse effects, correctional costs of handling drug offenders, the link between mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders and prison capacity, drug treatment, drug offender recidivism, the impact of drug abuse on minorities, needle exchange programs, and juvenile drug use. 56 references