0 - National Criminal Justice Reference Service

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repeatedly incarcerated, but untreated, with the result that high proportions relapse into drug use
and crime after release (Lipton, 1995). The time that drug-involved offenders are incarcerated
presents a unique opportunity to provide them with treatment. While there is yet little consensus
about what types of treatment work best for what types of offenders in what settings, studies have
suggested that in-custody treatment (especially intensive Therapeutic Community programming)
can be effective in reducing relapse and recidivism among seriously drug-involved offenders.
The Need for Treatment
The successor to the Drug Use Forecasting program (DUF), the Arrestee Drug Abuse
Monitoring (ADAM) program, tracks drug use among booked arrestees in 35 large urban areas.
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In 1998 the ADAM program conducted interviews and drug tests with more than 30,000 recent
anestees in 35 metropolitan areas (National Institute of Justice, 1999). A total of 20,716 adult
males, 6,700 adult females, 3,134 juvenile males, and 434 juvenile females participated in the
program during 1998. In 15 sites, about two-thirds of the adult arrestees and more than half of the
juvenile males arrestees tested positive for at least one drug. Among adult males, marijuana was
the drug most fiequently detected in 22 of the 35 sites. Cocaine was the drug most likely to be
detected in 11 sites. Among females, cocaine was the drug most frequently detected in 28 of 32
sites. Methamphetamine was the most fiequently detected drug in the three sites for females.
Among juveniles, marijuana was the most fiequently detected drug.
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) (1998) reported that 60 to
80% of all prison inmates (federal, state, and county) have been involved with drug use or drug-
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related crimes in some fashion. Of $38 billion in correctional expenditures in 1996, more than $30
billion was spent incarcerating individuals with a history of drug andor alcohol abuse. For chronic
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This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not
been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s)
and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.