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Alaska Justice Statistical Analysis Center |
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Cassie Atwell and Matthew Giblin
A survey of 718 male and female
arrestees in 1999 has revealed that cocaine and marijuana are
the drugs used most often by those arrested in the Anchorage
area. The group was studied by the Justice Center as part of
the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) project, a national
research initiative undertaken by the National Institute of Justice
(NIJ). The program, originally established in 1987 as the Drug
Use Forecasting Program (DUF) and subsequently redesigned and
renamed in 1997, operates in thirty-five sites across the country.
Its purpose is to generate extensive and timely data on drug
use among the arrestee population.
The drug use data obtained from
ADAM have implications for both national and local research and
policymaking. On a national level, the data provide a national
picture of drug use and abuse among a population that is difficult
to reach from other drug use data collection programs (e.g.,
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse). In addition, data are
used to analyze the relationship between drugs and crime. On
a local level, the data provide local policymakers, law enforcement
officials, and treatment professionals with a valuable resource
from which to identify local drug trends, evaluate existing treatment
programs and ascertain the need for additional or improved programs,
advise local law enforcement personnel, and assist in formulating
better policy decisions.
Methodology
Data collection, using a uniform
protocol, takes place in thirty-five sites across the country.
The uniform protocol enhances the validity of program findings
while also helping to make findings comparable across ADAM sites.
Four times a year (once every quarter)
the Justice Center collects data for a two-week period in both
Anchorage booking facilities, Cook Inlet Pretrial and Sixth Avenue
Correctional Center. The Justice Center and the Alaska Department
of Corrections have worked together to administer a secure confidential
collection procedure. The only criteria for inclusion in the
study are that inmates must not have been in custody for more
than forty-eight hours and that they must not be federal prisoners,
Immigration and Naturalization Service detainees, or transfers
from another facility. Once identified as eligible, the inmate
is asked to participate in a two-pronged study protocol. The
first part is an interview with a professionally trained interviewer.
The main content of the interview focuses on current and prior
drug use, and additional questions deal with criminal histories,
drug treatment, educational background, desire for treatment,
and demographics. The second part of the ADAM protocol involves
the collection of a urine sample from the interviewee used to
corroborate the information given in the interview. The specimen
is shipped to a lab where it undergoes testing for the presence
of ten different drugs.
Participation is strictly voluntary
with the inmate having the right to refuse to answer any question
asked or terminate the interview at any time. The urine sample
is also voluntary and the interviewee may refuse to provide a
specimen despite participating in the self-report interview.
However, the sample is only collected if the inmate has completed
the interview. All of the information obtained during the interview
process is strictly confidential, and individual results cannot
be made available to any law enforcement or prosecutorial agency.
Strict measures are taken to ensure that the interviewer does
not know the names of the persons being interviewed, and the
survey instrument and urine sample are not marked in any way
which could be traced back to the individual.
At the end of data collection the
questionnaires are sent to Washington, D.C. for analysis; aggregate
data are returned to each individual site for further study.
1999 Results
Though participation in the
study is voluntary, the participation rate is relatively high.
In 1999, 1,117 arrestees were approached; 76 per cent (n=844)
contributed an interview. Of those who agreed to be interviewed,
85 per cent provided a urine specimen for testing (n=718). The
results discussed below reflect findings from the participants
that contributed both an interview and urine specimen.
In 1999, a total of 563 male and
155 female adult arrestees were surveyed. (Anchorage is not currently
surveying juveniles.) The results are for those arrested for
all offenses—not just on drug related charges. The data
show that cocaine and marijuana were used most frequently by
both male and female arrestees. Slightly more than half tested
positive for any drug, while 25 per cent of the males and 36
per cent of the females tested positive for cocaine, and 37 per
cent of males and 31 per cent of females were positive for marijuana.
Less than five per cent of those arrested tested positive for
opiates or methamphetamines. (See Table 1.)
The self-reported drug information
shows that 31 per cent of males and 45 per cent of females admitted
using either crack or powder cocaine within the last 30 days
(Table 2).
