NCJ Number
92371
Date Published
1983
Length
222 pages
Annotation
This research study analyzed the operations and efficacy of prevention and control systems in reducing the association between drug addiction and criminal behavior, with attention to the quality of harshness, in the State of New York and in 11 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Jordan, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The research design consisted of five phases: (1) preliminary reports on the control system and drug abuse in each country; (2) selection of samples of 30 to 100 addicts to 1 or more drugs; (3) interviews and subject responses to vignettes depicting several situations; (4) administration of the same vignettes to a panel of experts in each country; and (5) data analysis. The final report first compares legislation relating to drug abuse in the participating countries, commenting that while notable differences exist, penal action tends to be extremely repressive toward traffickers and somewhat modified by medical and humane considerations for addicts. Individual chapters analyze data from the national reports, the vignettes, and the interviews. The study concludes that narcotic or psychotropic substance abuse exists in all countries, but in different forms and at different levels of seriousness. Responses to the vignettes suggested the element of the system with the most influence on both its efficacy and the seriousness of drug abuse was the perception of the system's harshness. No correlations between criminal behavior and type of substance abuse were established, although many of the subjects reported involvement in criminal activity. Preliminary reports of New York State, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are appended. Tables and graphs are included.