Economic Behavior of Street Opiate Users - Final Report

• NCJ Number: 95325
• Author(s): B D Johnson; P Goldstein; D Preble; J Schmeidler; D S Lipton; B Spunt; N Duchaine; R Norman; T Miller; N Meggett; A Kale; D Hand
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 355 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); National Institute on Drug Abuse; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: National Development and Research Institute, Inc. (NDRI)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

To deal with street opiate users who are highly criminal, closer cooperation and coordination between the criminal justice system and treatment systems are needed.

Abstract

New social policies and institutional arrangements are needed, so that more systematic, daily pressure is exerted on criminally active street opiate users to detoxify and enter long-term drug abuse treatment programs. Those arrested and convicted of crimes, including minor offenses, should undergo routine monitoring for drugs by urinalysis and should also be required to attend treatment programs daily and to report for long counseling sessions. Study data came from 201 street opiate users in East and Central Harlem. They were located using innovative methodologies and were interviewed during 1981-82. Regular heroin users committed almost 1,000 major offenses per year, including drug distribution crimes, compared with 360 for irregular heroin users. Daily heroin users had a total cash income of almost $15,000 per year, compared to over $8,000 per year among the irregular heroin users. Less than half of the subjects obtained any income from legitimate employment, welfare, or unemployment funding sources. Additional findings, extensive data tables, appendixes presenting the study methodology and related information, and 103 references are included.