NCJ Number
154003
Date Published
1995
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This report presents the responses to drug-related questions in the Spring 1994 Maryland Household Opinion Poll.
Abstract
The survey was conducted between April and May 1994. Respondents consisted of a random sample of adults aged 18 or older and residing in households in Maryland with a telephone. A total of 1,018 (75 percent) targeted households completed the interview. Survey findings show that more than half of Maryland residents believed that cocaine/crack (66 percent) and heroin use (51 percent was increasing in Maryland; yet less than half of Maryland residents believed that cocaine/crack (39 percent) and heroin (21 percent) were being sold in their neighborhood. Nearly one-quarter of Maryland residents favored adults 21 or older being allowed to possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use without legal penalty. More than half of the respondents favored establishing needle-exchange programs to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. Fifty-nine percent of Maryland residents held the position that a person with a first-time conviction for possession of illegal drugs for personal use should be placed in a treatment program. An additional 30 percent supported the policy of offenders being sent to both a treatment program and jail. Other questions and responses pertain to monetary allocations for drug education and prevention, drug legalization, and the prescribing of marijuana by physicians to treat some health conditions. 12 figures and appended tabular breakdowns of interview responses by demographic characteristics and region of residence