NCJ Number
162452
Journal
Crime, Law and Social Change Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: (1995/96) Pages: 241-255
Date Published
1996
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study provides data on drug use among offender populations by examining some drug-use indicators in a sample of felony and misdemeanor arrestees in Omaha, Neb.
Abstract
Specifically, the study compares selected drug-use indicators for various misdemeanant subpopulations, such as those arrested for drunk driving, with those arrested for other offenses. Comparisons also address felony populations, so as to determine the extent to which they differ from misdemeanor populations; the aim is to see if drug use indicators vary among levels of seriousness. The data generated by the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) Program for Omaha makes the comparison of criminal subpopulations possible through the analysis of both self-report and urinalysis data. DUF urine samples are analyzed for 10 drugs: cocaine, opiates, marijuana, PCP, methadone, bensodiazepines, methaqualone, propoxyphene, barbiturates, and amphetamines. Data for 1,958 arrestees were available for the analysis presented in this study. Of these, 676 were arrested for felony offenses, and 1,282 for misdemeanor offenses. The findings challenge the legal syllogism that drug use is uniquely related to serious crime. The fundamental observation from this analysis is that considerable similarity on several drug-use indicators exists among Omaha arrestees regardless of charge category. The authors advise that continued empirical observation must be applied to "legal syllogisms" about the drug war before they become policy directives. 1 table, 27 notes, and 23 references