Monitoring the Use of Illicit Drugs in Four Countries Through the International Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (I-Adam) Program

Abstract

The International Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (I-ADAM) program is a network of researchers from different countries following similar protocols for collecting urinalysis and self-reported data on drug use from detained arrestees. This article introduces the research community to this new program through basic descriptive findings. The focus of this article is not to analyze the differences found in drug use patterns in different nations. Rather, we demonstrate similarities and differences in findings in order to raise questions for future research, and to provide policy makers with information about the potential value and limitations of the I-ADAM system. Using I-ADAM data for 2000 from four countries (Australia, England, South Africa and the United States), we examine the rates of detainees testing positive for drugs and arrestee self-reports of past 12-month illicit drug use. This is followed by a comparison of results from the four different countries in terms of drugs used and offenses committed. I-ADAM has great potential to be a platform for researchers to broaden their study of the relationship between drug use and crime and examine variations in illicit drug use and their associated risk factors that are not country, nor culturally, specific.