What Works: An International Perspective on Drug Abuse Treatment and Prevention Research

• NCJ Number: 120049
• Author(s): J K Stewart
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Presentation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This address was addressed to a conference sponsored by Narcotic and Drug Research, Inc. and the New York State Division of Substance Abuse Services on October 23, 1989, in New York.

Annotation

This document addresses the new methods being investigated in drug abuse treatment and prevention.

Abstract

One reason the drug problem is so pervasive today is that society defined the problem incorrectly during the 1960s and 1970s as solely a problem of the criminal justice system. Due to limited resources and lack of public interest in sanctioning users, drug use was, in effect, decriminalized. However, recent anti-drug strategy has borne a national program for measuring drug use among the people who are the greatest risk to society - those arrested for crimes. Called Drug Use Forecasting (DUF), this program is providing information about drug use by criminals and criminal suspects and can predict crime rates six months to a year in advance. Another effective tool, pretrial drug testing, can both help control crime and reduce demand for drugs by those on pretrial release.