Journal of Drug Issues

This paper reports annual rates of delinquency and drug use while controlling for the type of offenders/drug users. Secondary analysis was conducted from the National Youth Survey, when the subjects were ages 14–20. Youths were classified into drug user and delinquent typologies representing more serious involvements. Annual rates of delinquent offending increased directly with more serious drug involvements, even when controlling for delinquent type. Less than 2% of all youths self-reported two or more index offenses and used cocaine/heroin. These youths had such high delinquency rates that they accounted for 40–60% of various felony crimes (robbery, felony theft, drug sales) and a disproportionate share of all marijuana and other drugs used. Yet less than a quarter reported that their recent non-drug crimes were primarily motivated to obtain money for drugs. Even in a national probability sample, delinquency is highly concentrated among a very small proportion of substance-using delinquents.

This paper tests an “independent cause” hypothesis, that there is a degree of etiological independence between marijuana use and delinquency. Adolescent subjects are clustered into groups based upon their levels of marijuana use and delinquency over time. The independent cause hypothesis is supported. Specific mode of friends' deviance clearly differentiates between deviants who become more involved in marijuana use and those who become more involved in delinquency. On the other hand, while several personality variables reliably distinguish deviants from nondeviants, they do not differentiate between marijuana users and delinquents.

As part of a larger study, 254 crime-involved youths in Miami were interviewed on the street about their drug use, crimes and – in more detail – experiences with crack-cocaine. In this strongly drug- and crime–involved sample, greater participation in the crack business was clearly associated with not only more crack use and more drug sales, but also more frequent use of other drugs and more crimes against property and persons. The criminogenic influence of the crack trade is discussed in relation to both media reports and the classic drugs/crime pattern first identified for heroin users.

Study of the relationship between drug use and crime over time remains an important topic in the field. Data from a longitudinal study of detained juveniles are examined to address this issue. Results indicate that self-reported delinquent behavior and alcohol use prior to initial interview are key predictors of reported delinquent behavior during the 10- to 15-month follow-up period. However, self-reported drug use and urinalysis test results (measured at initial interview), and prior delinquent behavior are significant predictors of the use of marijuana/hashish and cocaine over time. The research and policy implications of these findings are drawn.

The emergence of crack occurred during a period of intensifying social disorganization in urban areas that disrupted the informal controls that taught initiates how to use drugs and what amounts to use to achieve specific effects. Accordingly, differences in initiation into crack and other drugs were expected. Reports from initiates into crack and other drugs showed that the social processes of initiation did not differ. However, crack initiates differed from other initiates in their prior involvement with drug use and drug selling. Although informal controls continue to influence processes of initiation, the changing social ecology of urban areas suggests that these controls will be less influential in maintaining conventions and norms to regulate the use of crack

This paper examines the cocaine-violence relationship among samples of male and female street drug users using volume of cocaine use as the primary independent variable. Data derive from two ethnographic studies undertaken on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Subjects were studied as both perpetrators and victims of violence. The research was guided by a tripartite conceptual model of the general relationship between drugs and violence. A number of significant differences between males and females are identified and discussed. These findings, together with those of a previous analysis of the relationship between frequency of cocaine use and violence, provide evidence of the complexity of the drugs-violence relationship in general, and cocaine-violence relationships specifically.

Systematic urine-test data from arrestees in Washington, D.C. improved risk classification of arrestees with regard to pretrial rearrest, failure-to-appear and overall pretrial misconduct; urine testing of defendants released before trial was an effective “signaling” mechanism of post-release risk. Successful participants in the pretrial urine-testing program had rates of pretrial rearrest, failure-to-appear and overall pretrial misconduct that were about one-half the rates for individuals who failed to show up for urine testing or who dropped out after only a few tests.

A sample of 279 male heroin addicts admitted to methadone maintenance programs in Southern California, interviewed between 1978 and 1980, reported high rates of drug trafficking and over 250,000 property crime-days, which resulted in 6,251 arrests. Analyses indicate that offense rates and related social and economic costs were at their highest during periods of addiction. The aggregate cost to society, including criminal justice system and drug treatment intervention, is conservatively estimated at $85 million, averaging $20,000 per subject per year. These findings provide an empirical basis against which to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of alternative interventions.

The similarity of crime rates among 617 heroin addicts in New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore was investigated. It was found that aggregate crime rates, participation rates and frequency of crime among addicts in the three cities were remarkably similar. Thus, when “on the street” and addicted, the mean offense rate for addicts in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore were, respectively, 603, 631 and 567 offenses per year. Their respective mean crime-days per year at risk were 217, 269 and 227. Similarities and differences between offense rates and lifetime arrest rates were also analyzed.

Structured, confidential interviews were conducted with 250 male narcotic addicts attending methadone maintenance treatment centers in Baltimore and New York City during 1983 and 1984. Detailed information was obtained regarding the type and amount of criminal activity committed during periods of addiction to narcotics. These data were factor analyzed, and results of the factor analysis were subsequently used to derive a typology of narcotic addicts. Numerical taxonomic methods yielded nine types. Descriptions of types, in terms of the kind, amount, and severity of criminal activity, and the relationship of the resulting classification to demographic and background characteristics are provided. Implications of the findings for social policy makers are discussed.

Using a 90% sample (1,076) of the women incarcerated in August 1985 in Florida prisons, and a “non-use, casual/recreational use, problem use” typology, the extent of substance abuse was found to be inversely related to age at first arrest as an adult, age at incarceration, and employment at time of arrest. Extent of substance use was directly related to number and percent of prior offenses and incarcerations, broken parental home, and criminality in the family of origin. Even though non-users were more likely to be convicted of homicide, casual/recreational users were the most violent. No evidence was found for an increase in substance use/abuse between 1975 and 1985.

As a result of the Anti-Drug Act of 1986 the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) of the U.S. Department of Justice established Project REFORM to help states reduce drug abuse and criminality among convicted offenders through corrections-based drug treatment. On the basis of competitive applications to BJA, states were chosen to participate in the national project based on their willingness to launch a major system-wide effort to confront these problems. In 1987, the Bureau selected Narcotic and Drug Research, Inc. (NDRI) to administer Project REFORM and to provide expert assistance to participating states. The following is a report on the first three years of Project REFORM, including the project's mission, mode of operation, overall accomplishments, and what has been learned.