NIJ: Methamphetamine Use among Arrestees Declines in the West and Southwest

WASHINGTON, May 21 /PRNewswire/ New figures indicate a downward trend
in methamphetamine use among adult arrestees between 1995 and 1996, according
to a report released today by the Justice Department's National Institute of
Justice (NIJ). Use of the drug among adult arrestees is still significant in
the West and Southwest. Adult arrestees who tested positive for
methamphetamine use in San Diego, Phoenix and Portland showed the most
notable
declines. In San Diego, methamphetamine use by adult arrestees dropped from
37.1 to 29.9 percent; in Phoenix from 21.9 to 12.2 percent; and in Portland
from 18.7 to 12.4 percent. Only San Antonio showed an increase between 1995
to 1996, from 1.5 to 2.1 percent.

Last year, the Clinton Administration announced a National Methamphetamine
Strategy, including a request to Congress to raise penalties for trafficking
and impose tighter regulatory controls on drug products containing the
chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine. Marijuana now exceeds
cocaine as the drug of choice among adult male arrestees, particularly in
Western cities. Most cities reported an increase in the percentage of adult
male arrestees testing positive for marijuana. A majority of cities reported
lower rates of cocaine use among adult male arrestees while 9 reported
increases and 2 showed no change. Substantial decreases in cocaine use were
reported in Dallas and Houston. However, significant increases were also
reported in Omaha, Miami and Indianapolis.

Most cities reported very low rates of opiate use. While six cities
reported rates of opiate use at 10 percent or more, these rates are
consistent
with 1995 findings.

For 10 years, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has administered the
Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program. NIJ's DUF program has conducted
quarterly
assessments of substance abuse among booked arrestees in 23 sites around the
nation. Interviews and urinalysis are conducted with arrestees within 48
hours of arrest. Urinalysis detects evidence of recent use of any of 10
drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, opiates and methamphetamines.

NIJ has recently proposed to expand the program and develop a national
Arrestee Drug Use Monitoring (ADAM) system. The proposed expansion will
include 52 additional sites, as well as an outreach component in each site to
study drug use in suburban and rural areas.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the
Department of Justice, is the primary sponsor of criminal justice research
and
evaluations of programs to reduce crime. For general information about NIJ,
the Internet address is http://www.ncjrs.org. General information about the
Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is available at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov.

Copies of the 1996 DUF report are available from the National Criminal
Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) by calling tollfree, 1800/8513420.