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1997-98 Academy Text Supplement

Chapter 21-6

Drugs and Victims of Crime

Statistical Overview

• According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Drugs and Crime Clearinghouse, the total number of arrests for narcotic drug citations in 1996 was 1,506,200. (Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drugs and Crime Clearinghouse. (1998, January). Based on information from the 1996 Federal Bureau of Crimes, Uniform Crime Reports.)

• As part of ongoing research, the ONDCP Drugs and Crime Clearinghouse released information in 1996 summarizing current drug-related law enforcement, court, and corrections statistics, as well as drug use, drug production, and drug control spending information. (Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drugs and Crime Clearinghouse. (1996, July). Drugs and Crime Data -- Fact Sheet: Drug Data Summary, p. 1.)

• In fiscal year 1995, the Drug Enforcement Administration made 13,783 domestic seizures of non-drug property, valued at approximately $645 million. (Ibid., p. 3.)

• According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 1995 High School Senior Survey, 48.4% of high school seniors reported use of an illicit drug at least once during their lifetime, 39% reported use of an illicit drug within the past year, and 23.8% reported use of a drug within the past month. (Ibid., p. 1)
• The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reported that of the 46,773 defendants convicted in federal courts between August 1994 and September 1995, 15,861 (34%) were convicted of federal drug offenses. (Ibid., p. 1)
• According to the BJS Federal Justice Statistics Program, the average incarceration sentence length imposed on all federal offenders increased from 44 months in 1980 to 61 months in 1994, while the average sentence imposed on drug offenders increased from 47 months to 80 months during that same time period. The average incarceration sentence length imposed on defendants convicted of state drug charges in 1992 was 67 months, of which the estimated time served was 21 months. (Ibid., p. 3)
• Drug offenders have accounted for an increasing percentage of the population in state and federal correctional facilities. Drug offenders constituted an estimated 22% of the state prison population in 1993, up from six percent of the population in 1979. In federal

correctional facilities, drug offenders accounted for 61 percent of the federal inmate population in 1994, up from 61% of the population in 1970, 25% in 1980, and 52% in 1990. (Ibid., p. 3)

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) 1994 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that: 72 million (34.4%) of Americans aged 12 and older reported some use of an illicit drug at least once during their lifetime, 10.8% reported use during the past year, and 6.0% reported use in the month before the survey was conducted. (Ibid., p. 1)
• According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, federal spending on drug control programs has increased from $1.5 billion in fiscal 1981 to $13.3 billion in fiscal 1995. ("Fact Sheet: Drug Data Summary." (1995, June). Drugs and Crime Factsheet. Washington, DC: Office of National Drug Control Policy.)

• In 1993, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported an estimated 1,126,300 state and local arrests for drug law violations in the United States, representing eight percent of all arrests. (Ibid.)
• According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 17,604 defendants were convicted for drug offenses in federal courts between August 1993 and September 1994. (Ibid., p. 1)
• Federal correctional facilities report that drug offenders accounted for 61 percent of the federal inmate population in 1994, an increase of nine percent since 1990. (Ibid., p. 3)
• The average incarceration sentence length imposed on federal offenders increased from 44 months in 1980 to 62 months in 1992, while the average sentence imposed on drug offenders increased from 47 months to 82 months during that same time period. The average incarceration sentence length imposed on defendants convicted of state drug charges in 1992 was 67 months. (Ibid., p. 2)
• A total of 8,541 drug abuse deaths were reported in 1993 by 145 medical examiners in 43 metropolitan areas. Drug abuse deaths usually involve drug overdoses, but they also include deaths in which drug usage was a contributory factor. (Ibid., p. 4)
• According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse 1994 High School Senior Survey, 45.6 percent of high school seniors reported use of an illicit drug at least once in their lives, 35.8 percent reported use of an illicit drug within the past year, and 21.9 percent reported use of a drug within the past month. (Ibid., p. 4)
• According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's 1993 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 77 million (37.2 percent) of Americans aged 12 and older reported some use of an illicit drug at least once during their lifetime. (Ibid., p. 4)

• The National Pretrial Reporting Program found that in 1992, 59 percent of all released defendants rearrested for a drug offense, were once again granted pretrial release. (Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1995). Drugs and Crime Facts, 1994, p. 16. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)
• In 1993, the Drug Use Forecasting Report on Drug Use Among Juvenile Arrestees/Detainees found the percent positive for marijuana ranged from 14 to 51 percent, with a median value of 26 percent; in 1992, the range was from 5 to 38 percent with a median of 16.5 percent (an almost ten percent increase in the median). (National Institute of Justice. (1994). 1993 Annual Report on Juvenile Arrestees/Detainees: Drugs and Crime in America's Cities, p. 3. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)
• Ninety percent of 12th graders have friends who use alcohol; 63 percent know someone who has a drinking problem; and 26 percent have friends who use LSD, cocaine or heroin. (Luntz Research Companies. (1995). National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse. New York: Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia University.)

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