NCJ Number
132444
Date Published
1991
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program, initiated by the National Institute of Justice in 1987, is designed to provide each of 24 cities with estimates of drug use among booked arrestees and information for detecting changes in drug use trends.
Abstract
During the first quarter of 1991, 23 DUF sites collected data from male arrestees, and 21 of these sites also obtained data from female arrestees. The percentage of male arrestees testing positive for drugs ranged from 4 percent in Omaha to 79 percent in San Diego. New Orleans recorded the lowest percent positives for female arrestees (47 percent), while Cleveland reported the highest (86 percent). The percentage of juvenile male arrestees/detainees testing positive for drugs ranged from 9 percent in St. Louis to 38 percent in Los Angeles. Among male arrestees, amphetamine use was highest in 1988. By the last quarter of 1990, such use had declined to 25 percent and remained at that figure for the first quarter of 1991. Amphetamine use among females was also highest in 1988. The use of amphetamines among juvenile detainees in San Diego peaked in 1988 but has since shown a slow decline. It is felt that tracking amphetamine use among booked arrestees provides useful information on geographic differences in drug use and constitutes an objective baseline for detecting the potential emergence of "ice," a smokeable form of methamphetamine. Tables and figures