Research Agenda in the Fight Against Drugs

• NCJ Number: 120178
• Author(s): J K Stewart
• Date Published: January 1989
• Length: 18 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

The drug research agenda of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) encompasses both drug treatment and drug law enforcement.

Abstract

NIJ research is examining drug-crime links; identifying trends; assessing innovations such as using civil laws and sanctions against dealers and sellers; and obtaining data on how to make prevention, treatment, and enforcement more effective. NIJ has a national program for measuring recent drug use among those arrested for crime. Called the Drug Use Forecasting Program (DUF), it involves obtaining anonymous voluntary interviews and urine samples from a sample of those arrested at each city's central booking facility every 3 months. DUF shows the percentage of arrestees using drugs and the type of drugs being used from city to city. Such information helps treatment organizations allocate funding and decide what types of treatment are needed. NIJ plans to use DUF to track the effectiveness of efforts in education, treatment, enforcement, and drug seizures. Several NIJ studies suggest that for drug-using offenders, their early drug use and criminal history may predict how effective treatment will be. Treatment apparently works best for offenders not heavily involved in crime before their addiction. Other NIJ research efforts involve pretrial drug testing, computer mapping of drug markets throughout a city, and measurement of the effectiveness of various types of drug law enforcement strategies.