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1 Christopher A. Innes, State Prison Inmate Survey, 1986: Drug Use and Crime 1 (1986)

handle is hein.death/drusc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: C1 U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report State Prison Inmate Survey, 1986 Drug Use and Crime by Christopher A. Innes, Ph.D. BJS Statistician Results from the 1986 Survey of In- mates of State Correctional Facilities indicate that inmates report high levels of drug use prior to the commission of the crime for which they were incar- cerated. In the month before their current offense, 43% of State prison inmates were using illegal drugs on a daily or near daily basis; 19% were using a major drug--heroin, methadone, cocaine, PCP, or LSD--on a daily or near daily basis. Many inmates, however, began to use drugs, particularly major drugs, only after their criminal careers had already started. Half of inmates who had ever used a major drug and three-fifths of those who had ever used a major drug regularly did not do so until after their first arrest. Other findings include the following: o In 1986, 35% of State prison inmates reported that they were under the in- fluence of drugs at the time they com- mitted their current offense, compared with 32% in the 1979 survey. e Inmates were more likely to report they were under the influence of co- caine but less likely to report using heroin at the time of the offense than in earlier surveys. Marijuana or hashish was the drug most frequently used at the time of the offense. 9 Almost 80% of inmates had used drugs at some time in their lives; 52% had used a major drug. July 19881 This Special Report examines the links between illegal drug use and criminal activity among State prison inmates in the period before they were incarcerated. Past studies have shown that a high degree of drug use is common among offenders. This report expands our understanding of the relationship between drugs and crime by examining in greater detail the histories of drug use and addiction among State prisoners, * White inmates and female inmates were somewhat more likely than others to have been regular users of major drugs at some time in the past. * Among State prison inmates who had used drugs, about half began their use by age 15. * A large majority of inmates (81%) were not daily users of a major drug in the month before the offense for which they were sentenced to prison. About one-seventh (13%) of inmates seem to fit the pattern of drug addicts who committed crimes for gain. * About 65% of inmates reported that they had never been regular users of a major drug, and an additional 21% be- gan such regular use after their first arrest. * Of State prisoners who were sen- tenced for robbery, burglary, larceny, or a drug offense, half were daily drug users, and about 40% were under the influence of an illegal drug at the time they committed the crime. These pro- their employment patterns, and their participation in drug treatment programs. The report, based upon data from the 1986 survey of State prison in- mates, should be of use to criminal justice policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of State prison officials who made the survey possible. Steven R. Schlesinger Director portions were higher than those report- ed by inmates convicted of other crimes. * The greater an offender's use of major drugs, the more prior convictions the inmate reported: Less than 13% of those who had never used a major drug had six or more prior convictions, compared to nearly 30% of daily users of major drugs. ,, * Users of major drugs were substan- tially more likely than nonusers to report that they received income from illegal activities during the time they were last free (48% vs. 10%). * Twenty-eight percent of inmates reported a past drug dependency. The drugs most frequently mentioned were heroin (14%), cocaine (10%), and mari- juana or hashish (9%). * Thirty percent of inmates reported that they had participated in a drug treatment program at some time--12% more than once. About half of the in- mates who had participated in a pro- gram had received their most recent treatment while they were incarcerated. E

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