CRIME, DRUGS 'SERIOUS' PROBLEMS

Crime Rates Down, But Worries Abound

More than nine of 10 people who responded to The Advocate's annual
statewide poll say drug abuse is a serious or extremely serious problem in
Louisiana.

Nearly as many, 87 percent, say the same about crime, despite drops in
crime locally and nationwide.

The telephone poll of about 750 registered voters in Louisiana was
commissioned by The Advocate and conducted by Edward Renwick of New Orleans
from Dec. 1 through Dec. 12. The poll, which was weighted by race, has an
error factor of plus or minus 3.6 points for the entire sample. Smaller
portions of the sample have higher error factors.

The voters polled were asked their opinion on several issues and asked to
rate "how serious you think each problem is in Louisiana. Do you think each
is extremely serious, serious, not too serious or not serious at all?"

Of those voters polled in the Baton Rouge area, 34 percent rate crime as
extremely serious, and 54 percent rate it as serious.

In the drug abuse category, 44 percent of local voters say it is an
extremely serious problem, and 48 percent say it is a serious problem.

East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Louis Cataldie said that "club drugs" like
Ecstasy and GHB continue to be a big business in Baton Rouge, which has a
drug problem much like other cities of about the same size.

He said the only way to deal with drug abuse is by reducing the demand for
drugs.

"As long as there is a market, there are going to be drugs," Cataldie said.

Baton Rouge Police spokesman Cpl. Don Kelly said he believes both crime and
drug abuse will be perennial concerns because they never go away and are
always troublesome.

Crime has always ranked high among people's concerns, regardless of how
much or little of it exists.

"I'm sure that will continue," he said.

However, Kelly said, he hopes Baton Rougeans in particular will recognize
that crime counts show "the average citizen is probably less likely to have
been a victim of crime in 2001 than they were several years ago."

Statewide, 53 percent of the respondents say drug abuse is an extremely
serious problem, far more than say so about any other issue they were asked
about. The other issues are political corruption, public schools, crime,
quality of the work force, air and water, race relations and public colleges.

Women are more likely than men to say drug abuse is an extremely serious
problem, 61 percent to 45 percent.

Forty percent of those polled statewide say crime is an extremely serious
problem. People in the New Orleans metro area are far more likely than
those in other areas to view crime as extremely serious.

Eighty-five percent of those who say crime is an extremely serious problem
say the same about drug abuse, but just 64 percent of those who say drug
abuse is extremely serious say the same about crime.

Renwick said that in previous years, he has phrased the question to ask if
"drugs" are a serious problem.

It's impossible to tell whether poll respondents had criminal drug use in
mind when they answered or if they considered the term "drug abuse" to
apply to other issues, such as taking over-the-counter medications too
frequently, Renwick said.

People over 60 years old who responded to the poll are more likely than
young respondents to rate both drug abuse and crime as extremely serious.

Black respondents were much more likely than white respondents to rate both
crime and drug abuse as extremely serious.

For crime, 50.2 percent of black respondents rate it as an extremely
serious problem, compared to 36 percent of white respondents.

For drug abuse, 63.1 percent of black respondents rate it as an extremely
serious problem, compared to 49.2 percent of white respondents.

Cataldie said many of the people he sees who have been killed because of
their work in the illegal drug trade are young black men, which may
contribute to black respondents identifying the problem as more serious.

Selection of crime as an extremely serious problem decreases as respondent
income increases, except that respondents in the $15,000-$30,000 income
bracket rate crime as extremely serious slightly less often than those in
the $30,000-$45,000 bracket.

The same is essentially true for selection of drug abuse as a serious
problem, with the exception of respondents in the poorest income bracket --
under $15,000, who rate drug abuse as extremely serious at a lower rate
than either the $15,000 to $30,000 income bracket or the $30,000 to $45,000
income bracket.

People with lower incomes are most likely to have to rely on public
resources for treatment of drug abuse.

Cataldie said that means that their options are very limited.

"It's underfunded," he said of public help for drug addicts.

Cataldie said that often, a person might be ready to seek treatment for a
drug addiction only to find no space in state-funded residential treatment
centers.

They can't wait, because they are likely to lose their motivation to deal
with the addiction, he said.

"You miss that window of opportunity," he said, when you can't provide help
to people who are ready to take it. "There is just no resource."

Cataldie said the situation shows no signs of improving.

"I see it getting worse," he said.