S.D. Criminal Drug Use Rate 75%, Study Says

More than half of the men arrested for serious crimes in a dozen U.S. cities tested positive for illegal drug use, and in San Diego the drug use rate was 75%, Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III announced Thursday.

In New York the drug use rate hit nearly 80% while in Washington the rate was 77%.

The other cities and the percentage of those arrested who showed drug use were: Chicago, 73; New Orleans, 72; Portland, 70; Los Angeles, 69; Detroit, 66; Fort Lauderdale, 65; Houston, 62, and Indianapolis, 60.

Drug use was least frequent in Phoenix, where 53% of those arrested tested positive.

Illicit drug use among criminal defendants “seems to be increasing” and far exceeds estimated use in the general population, “where it appears to be leveling off,” Meese told a news conference.

The testing program sponsored by the National Institute of Justice found that 79% of those arrested in New York from June through November tested positive for drug use.

The figures were based on a sample of more than 2,000 men placed under arrest who underwent urine tests voluntarily.

Most of those tested were charged with street crimes such as burglary, grand larceny and assault. The sample contained few men charged with drug sales, drunken driving or disorderly conduct.

The information is “overwhelming evidence . . . that links drug use to criminal activity,” Meese said.

The tests show that among those arrested in New York City, cocaine use has nearly doubled in the last three years, while it has tripled in Washington. Cocaine use has surpassed use of marijuana in New York City and Washington, the testing found.

In New York, three out of every five men arrested tested positive for cocaine, while about half tested positive for cocaine use in Chicago, Detroit and Washington.

The testing found that in New York, one in every four men arrested was found to have heroin in his body.

The use of two or more drugs showed up in 60% of those tested in Washington, while in Indianapolis, use of two or more drugs turned up in 17% of the men.

Multiple drug use is “better than anything else” researchers have found in identifying high-rate offenders who each may commit hundreds of crimes a year, said James Stewart, NIJ’s director.

“If we can get an idea what drugs they are using and keep them off . . . we can lower . . . the crime rate,” Stewart said.

Meese also said that in Arizona, the test results inspired plans for statewide pretrial testing.

“I was in Arizona recently, and I was told that the testing program’s results encouraged the Arizona Supreme Court Committee on Drug Testing to start a similar survey of juveniles,” the attorney general said in a statement released at the news conference.