NCJ Number
7105
Date Published
1972
Length
41 pages
Annotation
METHODS USED TO ESTIMATE THE NUMBER OF HEROIN ADDICTS IN CHARLOTTE- MECKLENBURG, NORTH CAROLINA, IN 1971.
Abstract
APPROACHES IN ESTIMATING THE NUMBER OF HEROIN ADDICTS ARE THE AMOUNT OF PROPERTY STOLEN, THE AMOUNT OF TRAFFICKING IN HEROIN, DEATHS FROM OVERDOSE, AND ARRESTEES FOR HEROIN POSSESSION OR SALE AND PATIENTS IN TREATMENT PROGRAMS. A TIME SERIES OF THE PREVALENCE OF SERUM HEPATITIS AND OF THE PREVALENCE OF ROBBERIES, LARCENIES, AND BURGLARIES COMPARED TO THE MOST CRIME SUSCEPTIBLE SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION WAS USED TO DETERMINE INDIRECTLY WHETHER THE SIZE OF THE PROBLEM APPEARS TO BE CHANGING OVER TIME. IT WAS TENTATIVELY CONCLUDED THAT PROPERTY LOSS INFORMATION IS THE MOST CREDIBLE METHOD FOR ESTIMATING THE SIZE OF THE HEROIN ADDICT POPULATION AND MIGHT BE THE MOST HELPFUL INDICATOR OF THIS POPULATION'S RATE OF CHANGE. APPENDED MATERIAL INCLUDES STATISTICS ON CRIMES COMMITTED AND AN ESTIMATION OF THE NUMBER OF HEROIN ADDICTS IN THE CHARLOTTEMECKLENBURG AREA.