Identifying Treatment Needs of Drug-Involved Offenders: Drug Use Forecasting and the Weed and Seed Initiative

• NCJ Number: 161245
• Author(s): S Pennell; D Hoctor; A Caldwell
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 20 pages
• Grant Number(s): 92-IJ-CX-K011
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This paper describes a research study that examined the drug treatment needs of offenders and assessed the value of arrest location as an indicator of areas in which drug enforcement and intervention strategies could be used.

Abstract

The research was conducted at the San Diego Drug Use Forecasting site, with emphasis on the geographical region designated as a Weed and Seed area by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. This report first describes the association between drug use and crime, followed by descriptions of the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program and the Weed and Seed Initiative. The primary goal of the research was to demonstrate how agencies can use DUF results to identify service needs and design policy and programmatic responses. Through interviews with arrestees, conducted as part of the DUF program, information was obtained on drug treatment experiences and current need for substance abuse treatment. In addition, urinalysis results provided a measure of drug use. This information was matched with address information and mapped to geographically isolated needs. The study concludes that geographic information that includes the locations of drug- related criminality and the residence locations of those needing drug treatment services can be valuable in addressing drug- related community problems. 3 tables, 9 references, and computerized maps that show locations for various variables