Interventions: Law enforcement

Final Report on the Impact of United States v. Booker On Federal Sentencing [March 2006]

This final report assesses the impact of United States v. Booker on federal sentencing. March 2006, 277-page PDF [USSC, USA]

Monograph #5 Drug law enforcement: the evidence [December 2005]

Long-Run Trends in Incarceration of Drug Offenders in the US [May 2005]

Estimates are developed for the number of people incarcerated in the US for drug-law violations between 1972-2002, broken down by type of institution (federal prison, state prison, or jail) and to the extent possible by nature of drug offense (possession/use, trafficking, or other). These time series are compared to trends in drug use indicators, revealing at best weak correlations, and the absolute levels are compared to different market indicators to draw various inferences

Jonathan P. Caulkins, Sara A. Chandler

Carnegie Mellon, Heinz School 2005-8, May 2005

The effectiveness of criminal justice and treatment programmes in reducing drug related crime: a systematic review [2005]

This systematic review comprises a summary of the research literature on the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing criminal behaviour among drug users. Systematic reviews use rigorous methods for locating, appraising, and synthesising evidence from existing evaluation studies. They have explicit objectives and criteria for including or excluding studies and they are based on extensive searches of the literature for eligible evaluations. They are also based on careful extraction and coding of key features of studies and are written up in a structured and detailed report of the methods used and the conclusions drawn

Katy Holloway Trevor Bennett David Farrington

Home Office Online Report 26/05

Harm reduction policies and programs for persons involved in the criminal justice system [2005]

Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), May, 2005

Prison population projections 2005 – 2011

This bulletin presents the latest projections of the prison population in England and Wales for the period from January 2005 – June 2011. The projections are based on assumptions about future sentencing trends and the implications of new policy initiatives with an agreed timescale.

Nisha de Silva

Home Office UK 2005

Treating Doctors as Drug Dealers: The DEA's War on Prescription Painkiller [2005]

The media began reporting that the popular narcotic pain medication OxyContin was finding its way to the black market for illicit drugs, resulting in an outbreak of related crime, overdoses, and deaths. Though many of those reports proved to be exaggerated or unfounded, critics in Congress and the Department of Justice scolded the U.S.Drug Enforcement Administration for the alleged pervasiveness of OxyContin abuse. The DEA responded with an aggressive plan to eradicate the illegal use or "diversion" of OxyContin. The plan uses familiar law enforcemet methods from the War on Drugs, such as aggressive undercover investigation, asset forfeiture, and informers

Policy Analysis no. 545 CATO Institute 2005

Annual Report of Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales: 2004-05 [2005]

101-page PDF [HM Inspector of Prisons, UK]

Long-Run Trends in Incarceration of Drug Offenders in the US [May 2005]

Estimates are developed for the number of people incarcerated in the US for drug-law violations between 1972-2002, broken down by type of institution (federal prison, state prison, or jail) and to the extent possible by nature of drug offense (possession/use, trafficking, or other). These time series are compared to trends in drug use indicators, revealing at best weak correlations, and the absolute levels are compared to different market indicators to draw various inferences

Jonathan P. Caulkins, Sara A. Chandler

Carnegie Mellon, Heinz School 2005-8, May 2005

2005 Annual Report of the Irish Prison Service [2005]

[IPRT, Ireland]

The governance of illicit synthetic drugs [2004]

The focus of this report is on amphetamine type substances (ATS) mainly amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy (i.e. MDMA) [118 pages]

Adrian Cherney, Juani O’Reilly, Peter Grabosky

National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund (An Initiative of the National Drug Strategy) and the Australian Federal Police 2004

Beckley Briefing Paper 14. 'The Effects of Decriminalisation of Drug Use in Portugal'

In 2004, the Beckley Foundation reported on the legal changes that took place in Portugal in 2001, which effectively decriminalised the possession and use of all drugs, and diverted those arrested into education or treatment programmes (Allen, Trace, & Klein, 2004). This report aims to provide an updated overview of the effects of these changes. 10-page PDF [IDPC]

The Economic Case For and Against Prison

Are prison sentences really a cost-beneficial way of reducingoffending behaviour in those populations who are at risk of further offending? 20-page PDF [Matrix, UK]

Criminal justice responses to drug and drug-related offending : are they working?

This report attempts to provide some insight by giving an overview of key findings from national and state-based evaluations that have been undertaken of these initiatives. 131-page PDF [Australian Institute of Criminology]

Framework for measuring the performance of drug law enforcement

It has been estimated that Australia expends between $1.3 and $2 billion annually on drug law enforcement activity [Australian Institute of Criminology]

Policing guidance following reclassification of Cannabis

[Association of Chief Police Officers, UK]

Policing cannabis as a Class C drug

This research by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research, King’s College London, studies the policing of cannabis as a Class C drug. 68-page PDF [Joseph Rowntree Foundation, UK]

Air Bridge Denial Program in Colombia Has Implemented New Safeguards, but Its Effect on Drug Trafficking Is Not Clear

In the 1990s, the United States operated a program in Colombia and Peru called Air Bridge Denial (ABD). The ABD program targeted drug traffickers that transport illicit drugs through the air by forcing down suspicious aircraft, using lethal force if necessary. The program was suspended in April 2001 when a legitimate civilian aircraft was shot down in Peru and two U.S. citizens were killed. The program was restarted in Colombia in August 2003 after additional safeguards were established. To date, the United States has provided about $68 million in support and plans to provide about $26 million in fiscal year 2006. We examined whether the ABD program’s new safeguards were being implemented and its progress in attaining U.S. and Colombian objectives. [GAO, USA]

Drug Seizures by Scottish Police Forces

This publication presents figures for drug seizures made by Police forces in Scotland in 2004/05 and 2005/06 [Scottish Executive, UK]

Asian transnational organized crime and its impact on the United States.

This monograph is based on a final report to the National Institute of Justice, November 2004. 40-page PDF [NCJRS, USA]

Australian approaches to drug-crime diversion

This paper describes the five main types of drug-crime diversionary programs currently in use across Australia. The continuum of opportunities for minimising the progress of offenders through the criminal justice system or diverting them out altogether is described, along with some examples of diversionary measures. The key stages for drug crime diversionary interventions are: pre arrest; pre trial; pre sentence; post conviction at sentencing; and pre release from detention or gaol.

Australian Crime Commission ISSN 1448-1383 6 May 2004

Drug Use Monitoring in Australia : 2004 annual report on drug use among police detainees

The Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) project has been in operation since 1999. Over the years it has provided police, policy-makers, criminal justice practitioners and other professionals with systematic empirical data on illegal drug use among people detained and brought to a police station or watchhouse.

Australian Crime Commission

Carmen Schulte, Jenny Mouzos, Toni Makkai 2005 ISBN 0 642 53880 8 ; ISSN 1326-6004

Drugs and Crime Across America: Police Chiefs Speak Out 2004

In the view of America’s police chiefs, the drug problem facing our communities is greatertoday than it was in the mid-1990s. They believe that drugs are now a far more serious problthan property crime, violent crime, domestic violence or even the threat of terrorism. Despitemaking drugs a priority for more than a decade, top law enforcement officers report little progress. Strong majorities of chiefs say that law enforcement has been unsuccessful in reducing the drug problem, while most do not believe that major progress has been made over the past ten years

Drug Strategies and Police Foundation

State-by-State Illicit Drug & Medical Marijuana Laws

American Civil Liberties Union April 12, 2004

Evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act 2004 Report

This is the third in a series of annual reports from the independent statewide evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (157-page PDF)

By Douglas Longshore, Ph.D., Darren Urada, Ph.D., Elizabeth Evans, Yih-IngHser, Ph.D., Michael Prendergast, Ph.D., and Angela Hawken

Prepared for the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs California Health and Human Services Agency by University of California Los Angeles

Drug Use and Dependence, State and Federal Prisoners, 2004

Prior drug use among State prisoners remained stable on all measures between 1997 and 2004, according to the most recent findings from the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities [U.S. Department of Justice]

Drugs and crime : a study of incarcerated female offenders

The Australian Institute of Criminology is undertaking research on the drug use careers of adult males, females and juveniles incarcerated in Australian prisons. The objective of the Drug Use Careers of Offenders (DUCO) female study is to contribute to the empirical evidence about the interaction between drug use and criminal offending among incarcerated women

Holly Johnson

Australian Institute of Criminology 2004 No. 63. ISBN 0 642 53861 1 ; ISSN 1326-6004

The impact of heroin dependence on long-term robbery trends

Around Christmas 2000 Australia began to experience an acute heroin shortage. The shortage was associated with a steep fall in the rate of heroin overdose and a somewhat slower fall in many of the major categories of property crime in NSW. The incidence of robbery, however, increased markedly after the heroin shortage but then began falling in tandem with the other major categories of property crime. This bulletin examines the factors behind the unusual trend in robbery and discusses their significance for future drug law enforcement policy.

Neil Donnelly, Don Weatherburn and Marilyn Chilvers

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research 2004

Evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act 2004 Report

This is the third in a series of annual reports from the independent statewide evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (SACPA). Prepared by UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, the report describes the SACPA “pipeline” in its third year (July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004): the number of offenders referred to SACPA, the number who completed their assessment, and the number who entered treatment. Also described are treatment completion rates; probation/parole revocations; and effects of SACPA on re-offending, drug use, and employment.

Douglas Longshore, Ph.D., Darren Urada, Ph.D., Elizabeth Evans, Yih-IngHser, Ph.D., Michael Prendergast, Ph.D., and Angela Hawken

Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs California Health and Human Services Agency

Drug seizure and offender statistics 2001 & 2002

Home Office 2004

The impact of AFP drug law enforcement on the availability of heroin

The AFP in conjunction with Australian National University conducted an analysis of the impact of AFP law enforcement efforts on the supply of heroin in Australia. The results suggest that both the number and size of AFP heroin seizures influenced the availability of heroin. The study confirms the value of supply reduction strategies and when taken in conjunction with the results of other studies, supports the hypothesis that AFP drug law enforcement efforts result in benefits both to the drug user and the community as a whole

Australian Federal Police

Research Note 7 2004. ISSN 1447-9621

The role of police in preventing and minimising illicit drug use and its harms

There has been substantial documentation and evaluation of the range of illicit drug-related initiatives conducted by the health sector in Australia.1 However, there has been much less documentation and evaluation of initiatives conducted by police, especially on illicit drug harm reduction and demand reduction. Such information is necessary for enhancing the efficacy of police practice [201 pages]

Catherine Spooner, Mark McPherson, Wayne Hall

Funded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund An Initiative of the National Drug Strategy 2004

Criminal justice responses to drug and drug-related offending : are they working?

This report attempts to provide some insight by giving an overview of key findings from national and state-based evaluations that have been undertaken of these initiatives. 131-page PDF [Australian Institute of Criminology]

IHRA Launch Death Penalty Report

IHRA release a major report (33-page PDF) calling for an end to the use of the death penalty for drug offences around the world. The report concludes that the on-going execution of drug offenders is a violation of international human rights law [International Harm Reduction Association]

Deadly Denial

This 57-page PDF report found that routine police harassment and arrest – as well as the lasting effects of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s 2003 drug war – keeps drug users from receiving lifesaving HIV information and services that Thailand has pledged to provide [Human Rights Watch]

Federal Sentencing Statistics by State, District & Circuit

October 1, 2002, through September 30, 2003

United States Sentencing Commission

Review of Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics

The collection and analysis of statistics on drug seizures and drug offenders is a complex exercise. Data are collected from a number of different sources, in a variety of formats, covering different geographical areas and over different timescales. There are inherent difficulties in collecting statistical information from such a wide range of agencies particularly since these agencies are primarily concerned with the reduction in drug misuse and the enforcement of law rather than the collection of statistics.

Rodney M Taylor

National Statistics Quality Review Series Report No.29 2002/3

Illicit Drug Data Report 2002 - 2003

This report is produced by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC). It contains data provided by federal, state and territory police as well as forensic laboratories and the Australian Customs Serv

Australian Crime Commission

Federal Sentencing Statistics by State, District & Circuit

October 1, 2002, through September 30, 2003

United States Sentencing Commission

Drug Treatment in the Criminal Justice System

Only 61 percent of state correctional facilities provide substance abuse treatment. Notwithstanding a significant infusion of federal funds to support residential substance abuse treatment in prisons, the percentage of state prisoners participating in such programs has declined from 25 percent in 1991 to 10 percent in 1997. The policy shortfall is clear: Prisoners are not getting the drug treatment programs that would reduce their drug abuse and criminal behavior

Daniel P. Mears, Laura Winterfield, John Hunsaker, Gretchen E. Moore, Ruth White

Urban Institute January 01, 2003

Toward a Drugs and Crime Research Agenda for the 21st Century

In 2001, researchers and policymakers came together at the Drugs and Crime Research Forum to set an agenda to guide research on the drugs-crime link. Toward a Drugs and Crime Research Agenda for the 21st Century is the product of the Forum

National Institute of Justice NCJ 194616, September 2003, Research Forum,

How State Medical Marijuana Laws Vary

A Comprehensive Review

Research brief RB-6012, 2003 RAND 

Beyond Profiling: Race, Policing and the Drug War

This Article aims to reorient debate about race, policing, and the drug war by critically examining the focus on racial profiling that burdens the innocent. I conclude that policymakers should abandon efforts to ferret out and eliminate racial profiling in drug interdiction. Instead, policy analyses should consider the race-related consequences of the drug war, without regard to whether officers engage in racial profiling

R. Richard Banks

Center for the Study of Law and Society Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program Paper 4 2002

Report to the Congress: Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy

This is the first of a series of reports the United States Sentencing Commission will be issuing as we approach the 15th anniversary of the effective date of the federal sentencing guidelines. The purpose of this report is to contribute to the ongoing assessment of federal cocaine sentencing policy by Congress and others in the federal criminal justice system.

United States Sentencing Commission May 2002

Substance Dependence, Abuse, and Treatment of Jail Inmates, 2002

Presents data from the 2002 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails on inmates’ prior use, dependence, and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Report to the Congress: Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy May 2002

This is the first of a series of reports the United States Sentencing Commission will be issuing as we approach the 15th anniversary of the effective date of the federal sentencing guidelines. The purpose of this report is to contribute to the ongoing assessment of federal cocaine sentencing policy by Congress and others in the federal criminal justice system.

United States Sentencing Commission

Times they are a-changing: Policing of cannabis

This report, by South Bank University’s Criminal Policy Research Unit, represents the first, detailed study of the policing of cannabis in England and Wales. It has taken place against a backdrop of intensive media and political debate on the issue and the prospect of imminent legislative reform

Tiggey May, Hamish Warburton, Paul J. Turnbull and Mike Hough ISBN1 84263 062 8 (FREE PDF)

JoesephRowntree Foundation 13 March 2002

Just Cause or Just Because? 

Prosecution and Plea-Bargaining Resulting in Prison Sentences on Low-Level Drug Charges in California and Arizona [RAND, USA]

Testimony on Drug Treatment Alternatives to Incarceration

Testimony presented to the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources of the House Committee on Government Reform, April 4, 2000

Martin Y. Iguchi CT-169, ©2001RAND

Report to Congress - Federal Cocaine Sentencing Policy

This is the Commission's fourth report to Congress on the subject of federal cocaine sentencing policy. 202-page PDF [U.S. Sentencing Commission]

At a crossroads: Drug Trafficking, Violence and the Mexican State

In this joint WOLA-BFDPP policy brief, the authors provide an overview of current and past drug policies implemented by the Mexican government, with a focus on its law enforcement efforts. 12-page PDF [IDPC]

Counting the costs of crime in Australia : technical report

The report then discusses in detail the costing of particular crimes, as well as the estimation of other costs, including costs of the criminal justice system, lost productivity of prisoners, victim assistance, the security industry and insurance administration

Pat Mayhew

Australian Institute of Criminology 2003 ISBN 0 642 24273 9; ISSN 1445-7261

Towards a national prisoner health information system

The report notes that the large and growing population of prisoners in Australia presents a strong challenge to the public's health. There is an opportunity to intervene and treat prisoners while in prison, leading to their better health, and subsequently reducing risks to the community on their release [AIHW, Australia]

Legislating for Health and Human Rights: Model Law on Drug Use and HIV/AIDS

Many countries with injection-driven HIV/AIDS epidemics continue to emphasize criminal enforcement of drug laws over public health approaches, thereby missing or even hindering effective responses to HIV/AIDS. There is considerable evidence that numerous interventions to prevent HIV transmission and reduce other harms associated with injection drug use are feasible, effective as public health measures and cost-effective [Aidslaw, Canada]

Hepatitis C in Prisons: Evolving Toward Decency Through Adequate Medical Care and Public Health Reform

Hepatitis C in prisons is a public health crisis tied to current drug policy's emphasis on the mass incarceration of drug users. Prison policy acts as a barrier to hepatitis C care by limiting medical care for the infected, especially drug users, and by inhibiting public health measures addressing the epidemic [SSRN / University of California, Los Angeles - School of Law, USA]

A discrete-time survival study of drug use and property offending : implications for early intervention and treatment

This study uses data from the Australian Institute of Criminology's Drug Use Careers of Offenders Study (DUCO) to examine the temporal pattern of drug use and offending [Australian Institute of Criminology]

Illicit drug use in the EU: legislative approaches

The aim of this paper is to provide an outline of current legal provisions and amendments on the use and possession of drugs for personal use (1), in the Member States of the European Union

A discrete-time survival study of drug use and property offending : implications for early intervention and treatment

This study uses data from the Australian Institute of Criminology's Drug Use Careers of Offenders Study (DUCO) to examine the temporal pattern of drug use and offending [Australian Institute of Criminology]

The Economic Case For and Against Prison

Are prison sentences really a cost-beneficial way of reducingoffending behaviour in those populations who are at risk of further offending? 20-page PDF [Matrix, UK]

Opium Licensing in Afghanistan: Its Desirability and Feasibility

A US policy paper assessing the viability of licensing opium for medical use in Afghanistan. 17-page PDF [Brookings Institution, USA]

Poppy for Medicine

Licensing poppy for the production of essential medicines: an integrated counter-narcotics, development, and counter-insurgency model for Afghanistan. 112-page PDF [Transnational Institute]

Poor Prescription: The Cost of Imprisoning Drug Offenders in the United States.

As America entered the new millennium we culminated the most punishing decade in our nation’s history. While the number of persons in jail and prison grew by 462,006 in the seven decades from 1910 to 1980, in the 1990s alone, the number of jail and prison inmates grew by an estimated 816,965.The cost of this massive growth in incarceration is staggering. Americans will spend nearly $40 billion on prisons and jails in the year 2000. Almost $24 billion of that will go to incarcerate 1.2 million nonviolent offenders.4 Meanwhile, in two of our nation’s largest states, California and New York, the prison budgets outstripped the budgets for higher education during the mid-1990s.

Schiraldi, V., Holman, B., & Beatty, P.

Justice Policy Institute. 2000

Are Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences Cost-Effective?

Research brief, RB-6003, 1997 RAND

Methadone Maintenance Treatment and the Criminal Justice System

Current status of MMT in four facets of the criminal justice system: jails and prisons; pre-trial services, probation and parole; reentry initiatives; and drug courts (23-page PDF) [NASADAD, USA]

Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations - A Research-Based Guide

This guide is intended to describe the treatment principles and research findings that are of particular relevance to the criminal justice community and to treatment professionals working with drug abusing offenders [NIDA, USA]

DIP and Prolific & Other Priority Offender Programmes

This paper is work in progress or a “living” document which aims to provide examples of emerging practice and lessons learned in relation to the working partnerships between CJITs and PPO teams in effectively case managing drug misusing PPOs 56-page ODF [Home Office, UK]

Drug Courts: The Second Decade

As part of the evaluation of these courts, researchers have begun to look at their inner workings and to investigate how key functional components, singly and in combination, affect outcomes. 38-page PDF version [National Institute of Justice, USA]

ANCD research paper 14—Compulsory treatment in Australia

A discussion paper on the compulsory treatment of individuals dependent on alcohol and/or other drugs [ANCD, Australia]

Why Are So Many Americans in Prison?

Why are so many Americans incarcerated? Why did the incarceration rate increase so much in so short a time period? This paper seeks to answer these questions. 96-page PDF [Institute for Research on Poverty, USA]

The impact of enforcement on street users in England

Concerns have mounted in recent years about the 'problematic street culture' sometimes associated with rough sleeping – especially begging and drinking in the street. There has been a significant shift towards enforcement measures aimed at street users involved in such activities. This study evaluated the impact of these measures on the welfare of street users in five different areas in England. Full report 79KB PDF [JRF, UK]

Does drug use cause crime? : understanding the drugs-crime link

While many studies have repeatedly established a close relationship between drugs and crime, what is the nature of this relationship? Does drug use cause or lead to crime? Or does crime lead to drug use? Could it be that those who use drugs and those who are inclined to be criminals just happen to share many characteristics in common? This paper summarises the findings of research into the drugs-crime link, which has generally concluded that the relationship is extremely complex and defies attempts to sort out directionality. As drug use and crime involvement appear to have common origins, action to address drugs and crime must be a balanced mixture of measures designed to address long-term underlying causes as much as the immediate problems through education, law enforcement and treatment

Australian Crime Commission

Do Not Cross: Policing and HIV Risk Faced by People Who Use Drugs

This paper reviews the research literature of relevance to Canada on the impact of law enforcement practices on HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment for people who use illegal drugs. 26-page PDF [Aidslaw, Canada]

The Establishment of a Drug Court Pilot in Tasmania

This 99-page PDF Australian research paper contains statistical and other information about drug use and drug courts [Policy Pointers]

Policy Paper 1 - Criminal Justice Drug Policy in Ireland

This paper outlines the need in Ireland for a review of the effectiveness of our present criminal justice drug policy. It will define what constitutes criminal justice drug policy. It proposes key principles and specific recommendations to guide in the development of a more effective criminal justice drug policy [Drug Policy Action Group, Ireland]

The policing implications of cannabis, amphetamine and other illicit drug use in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

Increasing cannabis availability in rural and remote areas has extended a thriving illicit drug trade to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander settlements in some of Australia’s most isolated regions. 178-page PDF [National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, Australia]

Interdiction Efforts in Central America Have Had Little Impact on the Flow of Drugs

The supply of illegal drugs reaching the United States via Central America continues virtually uninterrupted despite years of U.S. drug interdiction efforts.

Letter Report, 08/02/94, GAO/NSIAD-94-233 [Global Security.Org]

Drugs and crime trends in Europe and beyond

Europe remains a destination of choice for international drug traffickers [UNODC]

Erasing the Lines

Trends in U.S. military programs with Latin America [WOLA]

The governance of illicit synthetic drugs

The aim of the project has been to: Identify concrete examples of law enforcement agencies harnessing external institutions (public, private and non-profit) in furtherance of amphetamine and other illicit synthetic drug control. Identify objective, replicable measures of each partnership’s institutional properties, and their impacts. Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of each. [118-page PDF]

Adrian Cherney, Juani O’Reilly, Peter Grabosky

Funded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, an initiative of the National Drug Strategy

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders: Final evaluation report

This report presents findings from an 18-month evaluation conducted by South Bank University, on behalf of the Home Office, in three pilot areas - Gloucestershire, Liverpool and Croydon. Results include an evaluation of the type of offenders sentenced to a DTTO, how well they met the treatment, testing and review elements of the order, and how successful the pilot projects were in reducing their drug use and related offending.

Paul J. Turnbull, Tim McSweeney, Russell Webster, Mark Edmunds and Mike Hough.

Home Office Research Study 212 Date: 2000

“Unlocking Potential: Making Prisons Safe for Everyone”

Report of the 8th European Conference of Drug and HIV/AIDS Services in Prison 149-page PDF [ENDIPP, Europe]

Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM)

The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program collected data about drug using, drug and alcohol dependency and treatment, and drug market participation among recently booked arrestees (within 48 hours) in 40 communities around the United States

National Institute of justice

Drug Treatment in the Criminal Justice Syste

It is clear that we need to understand what happens as correctional agencies bring drug treatment into their systems. There are, perhaps, conflicting expectations, systems constraints, and philosophies. There are yet-to-be-specified roles that federal agencies might play to assist the integration of treatment into corrections

Daniel P. Mears, Laura Winterfield, John Hunsaker, Gretchen E. Moore, Ruth White

Urban Institute 2003 ID=410618

Improving the Link Between Research and Drug Treatment in Correctional Settings Drug Treatment

According to some estimates, only 61 percent of state correctional facilities provide substance abuse treatment. Despite a significant infusion of federal funds to support residential substance abuse treatment in prisons, the percentage of state prisoners participating in such programs declined from 25 percent in 1991 to 10 percent in 1997. The policy shortfall is clear: Inmates with substance abuse problems may not be receiving the treatment that would reduce their drug problems and criminal behavior. Why they are not getting treatment remains largely unknown. One possibility is simply a lack of political or correctional interest in providing drug treatment. But an equally plausible explanation is a lack of sufficient funding

Daniel P. Mears, Gretchen E. Moore, Jeremy Travis, Laura Winterfield

Urban Institute 2003 ID=410620

Drug Treatment Program Evaluations

This report focuses on the effects of the BOP’s in-prison DAP on post-release drug use, recidivism, employment, and halfway house placements, while controlling for a variety of other factors related to treatment outcomes

Federal Bureau of Prisons (2000)

The role of police in preventing and minimising illicit drug use and its harms

200-page PDF [NDLERF]

Drugs and Crime Facts

This site summarizes U.S. statistics about drug-related crimes, law enforcement, courts, and corrections from Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and non-BJS sources [ Bureau of Justice Statistics]

Collateral Casualties: Children of Incarcerated Drug Offenders in New York

For over a quarter of a century, New York's drug laws have mandated severe prison sentences for drug offenses and have filled the state's prisons with low-level offenders, most either black or Hispanic. Many of the 150,000 prison sentences handed down to drug offenders have been so disproportionate to the crime-mostly retail street sales and other minor drug offenses-that they violate basic principles of justice and internationally recognized human rights, as detailed in an earlier report.1 Excessively long sentences can constitute cruel and counterproductive punishment for those who are incarcerated. Such sentences also needlessly harm the children left behind

Human Rights Watch

June 2002 Vol. 14, No. 3 (G)

Prisoners Once Removed

Imprisonment casts a long shadow in the United States. Incarceration rates have grown substantially over the past three decades, resulting in a fourfold increase since the early 1970s. Currently, 1.4 million individuals are behind bars in America's state and federal prisons, and more than 600,000 individuals—about 1,600 a day—will be released to return to their communities this year (Beck, Karberg, and Harrison 2002). These prisoners are parents to 1.5 million children—an increase of more than a half-million children in the last decade

Jeremy Travis and Michelle Waul

Urban Institute Press ISBN 0-87766-715-2

Defending An Effective Control on National and International Drug Trade : Challenging the International Drug Conventions

Is the American drug policy the only possible one that would comply with international drug law ? The point here, is not to describe in details what is the American drug policy. It is enough to state that it is a repressive policy, and even an increasing repressive policy. This simple statement is in opposition with another way of dealing with the use of drugs: the “legalization policy”. The question is then: is it possible to legalize drugs within the frame of the current International Conventions on Drugs ?

ChristopheMarchand, Member of the Brussels’s Bar 2000

Research on drug courts: A critical review 2001 update

This is a critical review of 37 published and unpublished evaluations of drug courts (including seven juvenile drug courts, one DUI court, and one family drug court) produced between 1999 and April 2001

Belenko, S.

New York: The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University

The Australian heroin drought and its implications for drug policy

The extent to which individuals who are detained by police are drug users is a matter of policy significance, since drug using offenders commit disproportionately more crime than their non-drug using colleagues. In this study the level and type of drug use among a sample of detainees from two local area commands in Sydney are examined. The study validates self reported drug use with urinalysis results

Don Weatherburn, Craig Jones, Karen Freeman and Toni Makkai

Australian Institute of Criminology 2001 ISBN 0 7313 2633 4; ISSN 1030-1046

Caught in the Net: the Impact of Drug Policies on Women & Families

The ACLU, Break the Chains: Communities of Color and the War on Drugs, and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law co-authored this report that compiles for the first time existing research on the effects of current drug laws and sentencing policies on women and their families

Brennan Center

Links between illicit drug use and crime

There is research both in Australia and internationally which shows that a significant proportion of those apprehended for a range of criminal offences are frequent illicit drug users. However, whether drug use is a causal factor for crime continues to be debated [Australian Institute of Criminology]

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders: Final evaluation report

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders (DTTOs) were introduced as a new community sentenceunder the Crime and Disorder Act, 1998 ... This report presents findings from an 18-month evaluation conducted by South Bank University, on behalf of the Home Office, in three pilot areas - Gloucestershire, Liverpool and Croydon. Results include an evaluation of the type of offenders sentenced to a DTTO, how well they met the treatment, testing and review elements of the order, and how successful the pilot projects were in reducing their drug use and related offending.

Paul J. Turnbull, Tim McSweeney, Russell Webster, Mark Edmunds and Mike Hough

Home Office Research Study 212 October 2000

The Review of Crime Statistics - a discussion document

This report presents the findings of a review of the routine information regarding crime that is currently produced by the Home Office. It is the first in a series of reviews looking at all of the statistical series produced in the department, and which aim to ensure that each statistical series is capable ofmeeting the standards of probity that are required from national statistics

Home Office 2000

How Large Should the Strike Zone Be in "Three Strikes and You're Out" Sentencing Laws?

So-called "three strikes and you're out" sentencing laws for criminal offenders have proliferated in the United States in 1990s. The laws vary considerably in their definitions of what constitutes a "strike". the paper adapts the classic Poisson Process model of criminal offending to investigate how varying sentence lengths and definitions of what constitutes a strike affect the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these sentencing laws. In particular, it asks whether by using different definitions for the first, second, and third strikes or different sentence lengths, one can make the resulting incarceration more "efficient" in the sense of incapacitating more crimes per cell-year served

Jonathan P. Caulkins

Carnegie Mellon, Heinz School 1999-14, Jul 1999

Mandatory drug testing in prisons The relationship between MDT and the level and nature of drug misuse

Mandatory drug testing (MDT) was introduced in all prison establishments in England and Wales by March 1996. The Oxford Centre for Criminological Research was commissioned by the Home Office to assess the impact of the drug testing programme on the extent and nature of prisoners’ drug misuse. In order to examine these issues, both staff and prisoners were interviewed and official records were examined.

Kimmett Edgar and Ian O'Donnell

Home Office 1998 ISBN 1 84082 160 4

Drug Use, Testing, and Treatment in Jails1998

Describes the drug involvement of jail inmates and the level of drug use, testing, and treatment in jails. This report is the third in a series on prior drug use and treatment of offenders, and uses data from the 1998 Annual Survey of Jails and the 1996 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails

Bureau of Justice, USA NCJ 179999

Substance Abuse and Treatment of State and Federal Prisoners, 1997

Presents data from the 1997 Survey of Inmates in Adult State and Federal Correctional Facilities concerning prisoners' use of alcohol and illegal drugs and the substance abuse treatment they received

Bureau of Justice, USA NCJ 172871

DRUGS AND THE LAW: Report into the Independent Inquiry into the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

It is nearly 30 years since the main legislation controlling the misuse of drugs in the United Kingdom was enacted. Our task has been to consider the changes which have taken place in our society in that time and to assess whether the law as it currently stands needs to be revised in order to make it both more effective and more responsive to those changes. It has also been our duty to examine the implications of our proposals.

Published by The Police Foundation March 2000, ISBN 0-947692-47-9

Drug Offenders and the Criminal Justice System: Will Proposition 36 Treat or Create Problems?

In the tradition of previous RAND research evaluating the California threestrikes initiative in 1994, RAND Criminal Justice has conducted an independent analysis of Proposition 36--what can and cannot be said about its effects on the basis of readily available information

K. Jack Riley, Pat Ebener, James Chiesa, Susan Turner, Jeanne Ringel

RAND IP-204 (2000)

Federal Drug Offenders, 1999 with Trends, 1984-99

Describes offenders investigated for and charged with Federal drug offenses during 1999. This report includes statistics describing type of drug involved in the offense, criminal history of defendants charged, demographic characteristics of defendants charged, defendants' role in the drug conspiracy, and sentences imposed

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Drug control strategies of United States law enforcement

The most pressing needs in law enforcement are (a) improved intelligence-gathering and analysis and (b) research on the illicit drug industry and on the effectiveness of drug control strategies

Williams, H

Bulletin On Narcotics Volume 42, Issue 1 , 1990, Pages 27-39

Cruel And Usual Disproportionate Sentences for New York Drug Offenders

In the past decade, the U.S. Congress and many state legislatures have established harsh criminal penalties for a wide range of drug offenses, often using the vehicle of mandatory minimum prison sentences. As a consequence, drug offenders in the United States face sentences that are uniquely severe among constitutional democracies. Supporters insist that severe mandatory sentences guarantee serious drug offenders are put behind bars, offer prosecutors leverage for securing cooperation from drug traffickers, deter prospective offenders, and enhance community safety and well-being. Opponents point to data showing the laws have had little impact on the demand for or the availability of drugs. Instead, they have resulted in the unnecessary confinement of low-level nonviolent offenders

Human Rights Watch

March 1997 Vol. 9, No. 2 (B)

Predatory Public Finance and the Origins of the War on Drugs 1984 –1989

Escalation of the war on drugs, when measured by drug arrests relative to Index I arrests, apparently ended in 1989. In the United States the drug arrest/Index I arrest ratio fell from 0.46 in 1989 to a 1990 figure of 0.36, a decline of 24 percent. This decline in drug enforcement is not inconsistent with bureaucratic incentives, however, including those created by asset forfeiture legislation. Police may simply be arresting “smarter,” for example, concentrating on drug offenders with some potential yield via forfeiture

Bruce L. Benson, David W. Rasmussen

The Independent Institute 1996

Illicit Drugs and Crime

Today, many states face the legacy of the 1984–89 drug war that continues to plague their criminal justice systems: mandatory sentences for drug crimes, federal and state seizure laws, and other legislative actions produced in an effort to appear tough on drugs mean that drug control activity is not likely to return to its pre-1984 level, let alone to a level that might be an appropriate reflection of the true costs and benefits of drug enforcement

Bruce L. Benson, David W. Rasmussen

The Independent Institute