Flow of Individuals Through the Criminal Justice System (percentages)
POLICE The estimate of problematic drug involvement among arrestees is drawn from the most recent report on ADAM (Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring) site program data (NIJ, 1998, "ADAM 1997 Annual Report on Adult and Juvenile Arrestees. NIJ Research Report." Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Justice Programs Office, NCJ 171627). The 64% was calculated by obtaining an average percentage of individuals with positive urine screens, whether or not separately reported by gender. The range in reported positive rates was very wide, 38% to 80%. ADAM indicated that separately reported positive rates by gender showed a higher rate of positive urine screens among men (average = 58%, range = 54% to 80%) than women (average = 58%, range = 38% to 79%). The wide variation in positive urine screen rates can be attributed to differences in tests conducted (i.e. some substances are more likely to be positive than others), regional drug use rates vary for specific drugs, variations in reporting policies, and criteria for positive ratings.
COURTS Drug offenses represent 31.9% of all state and federal felony convictions in 1994 (Langan, P.A. and Brown, J. M. (1997), "Felony Sentences in the United States, 1994." Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, NCJ 165149). Federal convictions are more likely to be for drug offenses (41.4%) than are State convictions (31.4%) in 1994. Drug offenses refer to both possession and trafficking charges.
DRUG COURTS Although not explicitly stated in available literature, it is reasonable to assume that all drug court participants are drug involved. While most drug court participants are substance abusers (alcohol and illicit drugs), it is also true that some participants are drug dealers who do not abuse substances.
PROBATION 46.8% of all State and Federal probationers (including DWI) reported that they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of their offense (Mumola, C.G. and Bonczar, T.P. (May 15, 1998 revision), "Substance Abuse and Treatment of Adults on Probation, 1995, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report." Washington, DC: Us Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. NCJ 166611). Non-DWI offenders who had positive urine were used to indicate the proportion of probationers with problematic substance abuse because that group is more consistent with the criminal population in other segments of the figure, the substance use was associated with a criminal justice sanction (therefor problematic) and the data were directly obtained in a survey of probationers. Further, this indicator is consistent with the self-reported 32% of the 2,064,145 individuals on probation in 1995 who used illicit drugs in the 30 days prior to committing their offense.
PRISONS The estimated 59.6% of local jail, State and Federal prison inmates (on June 30, 1997) who ever used drugs regularly is based on the ONDCP report (Office of National Drug Control Policy, March, 1998, "Drug Treatment in the Criminal Justice System." ONDCP Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse Fact Sheet. Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy) which used 1991 reports of inmate drug usage (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, September, 1994. "Comparing Federal and State Prison Inmates, 1991." Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and BJS (1991) "Drugs and Jail Inmates, 1989" Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics) to determine substance abuse involvement of inmates in all three types of facilities in the mid-year 1997 population (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, January, 1998. "Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear, 1997." Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. It is assumed that these estimates, based on the most recently available data, are conservative, given the increases in drug related arrests and convictions from 1991-1997. Other indicators have been used by other authors. For example, ONDCP notes that the current proportion of all Federal and State inmates who have ever used drugs (60-80%) is twice the estimated drug use of the total U.S. population (35%).
PAROLE A total of 40.7% of the 1996 Federal parolees were released to the community with the special condition of drug treatment or monitoring (Adams, W.P., Roth, J.A. and Scalia, J, August, 1998, "Federal Offenders Under Community Supervision, 1987-96." Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. Washington,DC: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics). * A positive drug test does not necessarily itself indicate a cause/effect relationship between drugs and crime.