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Cocaine use is down but marijuana use continues to grow among men arrested in 10 U.S. cities, according to a federal drug-monitoring program's annual report released Wednesday.
Marijuana was the most commonly used illegal substance, the 2011 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Annual Report (ADAM II) says. In Sacramento, Minneapolis, Chicago and Charlotte, N.C., 50 percent or more of arrestees tested positive, not significantly different from 2010, but continuing an upward trend from 2000, it said. Sacramento saw the highest use at 56 percent, and highest growth, up from 46 percent since 2009.
The other cities in the study are Atlanta, Denver, Indianapolis, Portland, Ore., New York, and Washington, D.C.
Cocaine, the second most-common drug, generally is down in all 10 cities, ranging from 10 percent of arrestees in Sacramento to 33 percent in Atlanta. The largest declines in cocaine use were seen in New York and Chicago, from more than 50 percent of arrestees in 2000 to less than 30 percent in 2011.
Overall, more than 60 percent of men arrested in 2011 for crimes ranging from misdemeanors to felonies tested positive for at least one illicit drug, the report said. Positive test results ranged from 64 percent in Atlanta to 81 percent in Sacramento, Calif. Four cities, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, and Portland, Ore., joined Sacramento in reporting 70 percent or more arrestees testing positive.
The report is based on thousands of interviews and drug tests of all arrestees, not just those in drug-related cases. They are tested for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines/methamphetamine, Darvon, PCP, benzodiazepines, methadone, and barbiturates, but not alcohol, under the program.
Among other key findings from the report:
- Heroin and other opiate use tripled in Denver since 2000 and doubled since 2010. Other cities with significant increases were Atlanta, Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Sacramento. However, New York and Chicago saw significant decreases, the report said.
- Methamphetamine use rose most in Portland and Sacramento, the leader of the 10 cities with 43 percent testing positive, up from 31 percent in 2011. The other eight cities saw little change in meth use among arrestees.
Gil Kerlikowske, director of national drug control policy, said at a news conference that the results highlight the importance of policies, such as those proposed by the Obama administration drug policies, to break the cycle of drug use, arrest, incarceration, release and re-arrest.
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"These data confirm that we must address our drug problem as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue,” Kerlikowske said. “We cannot simply arrest our way out of the drug problem."
He called for supporting drug courts and policies that work to break "the vicious cycle of drug use and crime, reduce recidivism, and make our communities healthier and safer.”
He credited the fall in cocaine use to education programs, particularly word-of-mouth discussions in African-American communities about the dangers of crack cocaine, and reduction of Colombia production.
Drug use must be treated as a chronic illness that changes the brain structure and impairs decision-making by users who can't control urgings and cravings, said Dr. Redonna Chandler, chief researcher at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"Incarceration, boot camp and forced abstinence are no substitute for treatment," she said.
West Huddleston, executive director of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, said drug courts can save communities $2.20 for every dollar invested. He said there appears to be bipartisan support for drug courts -- there are now 2,600 nationwide, reaching 120,000 participants a year.
"Seventy percent of graduates will never see another pair of handcuffs," he said.
Law enforcement authorities say drug traffickers are hiding behind California's medical marijuana laws, established in 1996 to help people manage nausea and pain associated with serious illnesses, and distributing the drug illegally. Current TV's Adam Yamaguchi reports in this Rock Center online exclusive netcast.
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Tough economy.
actually good news..
Cocaine is highly addictive and causes good people, who become addicted, to do bad things and bad people to do horrible things.
This is a good trend
Statistically, this is exactly what we want to have happen. The time for decriminalization is long past due.
The time for legalization is long past due.
And the voice of reason announces itself once again, only to be shouted down by draconian politicians on the stump who have no expertise to bear on the subject and know only what will tickle the ear of their constituency.
"I'm tough on crime and I promise more severe punishment for repeat offenders."
Sound familiar? Pretty much every politician in my state, at one time or another, uttered these words or something like it, ignoring every study ever done on the subject, during their campaign.
Exactly. Tax it.. Its a $35 BILLION cash crop each year in the US..Corn & Wheat both staples of almost everything, combine to equal $30 Billion a year in sales. Plus America spends $18 Billion or so a year fighting the entire drug war. Not to mention the hundreds of billions it creates for the prison industry.
Not to mention that using Coke just once can and has and will kill.. Smoking Cannabis has never, will never nor can it ever, kill anyone from smoking too much. Alcohol kills thousands each year from drinking too much.
If our government can make a natural growing plant, a plant, illegal, whats next? Tomatoes? Cinnamon? Cantaloupe? Oranges? Peanuts have killed people due to being allergic, we going to make peanuts illegal now?
The Politicians are funded by big pharma, big oil, big tobacco and big alcohol.. They are the ones who control want WE as people use. They are afraid, that if Cannabis is legal, their lab created drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, will become obsolete and will not get people hooked anymore. Cannabis is the ONLY drug in the world, that needs NO special alterations to make it useful. Grow it, dry it, smoke it. No other drug in the world is that natural that has hundreds of wonderful uses, nor is there not another more valuable plant per ounce in the world.. Legalize it, tax it. Let it become a thriving industry. Clearly prohibition has never worked in man-kinds history. Cannabis legalization will create tens of thousands of jobs. But it will also cut down on a lot of the border violence and the human smuggling that comes with our obsessive drug culture.
If we were to legalize it it, our law enforcement agencies could actual do their jobs and put dangerous criminals in prison. Smoking a natural growing plant is illegal, but a man made, lab created drugs that can instantly get you addicted hooked and kill you remain legal? We are a nation that is truly 2 faced on every issue, left, right and middle. We talk out of both sides of our mouths at the same time. We have a group, the GOP spouting more personal freedoms, taking responsibility for yourselves, yet they are passing morality laws and personal control laws across this nation, all in the guise of we know whats best for you.. President Obama said he wouldn't interfere with cannabis dispensaries in states who have medical cannabis laws and allow them to operate under states laws, yet he is worse than our last dictator we had as president on medical cannabis dispensaries.. He, like all Presidents kowtow to the big corporations that line their velvet pockets.
Nothing will change, just a different sheep in the WH and fresh paint and linens is all it is. Both parties are out to suck this nation to death. They both have the same ideals, just different words for them. We The People? When the GOP controlled SCOTUS allowed corps to become people, WE the people died!
Potheads are just, well, potheads.
"These data confirm that we must address our drug problem as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue,” Kerlikowske said. “We cannot simply arrest our way out of the drug problem."
I someone finally getting it? Nothing will change however. There's more money is proscecuting.
This data does nothing but prove that people like to manipulate a message based on target trending.
Where is the data for transit cities like Houston, El Paso, Los Angeles. Miami etc. along the cartel pipelines and in the wake of the desolation that these gangs and cartels leave on the way to these laundered markets in the "survey". Yes it is absolutely a criminal justice problem.
And the radio yesterday said higher percentage of single women. The guys said you got to be able to afford the gals and play. Iron Mike is dead on........
I know people here will not agree with me on this but I have seen what pot smoking can do to "some people", Everyone is different, I have seen what pot did to a friend of mines brother and its not a good thing. No the young man is not doing any other drug either just pot and this guy cannot hold down a job, any job and hes been offered many. He doesn't pay his bills, gets into auto accidents and now is dealing the stuff. Its sad to see really and everyone has talked with him about getting help but all the guy wants to do is get high, stay high etc etc.
I agree that pot has its advantages and does help some but it can harm people as well and what do you do for those people?
This is why I am against legalizing it as if it were legalized and people who have never done it before started what will happen to them?
Maybe people wanting it legalized don't care about the people it will or could hurt? Honestly I don't know what to think then.
BTW, I have tried it in my youth and didn't care for it. I am now in my 50's
Alcohol is a much deadlier killer. Accidents are common but the slow death of alcoholism cannot be compared and never reported....
seven: If you don't like what you are hearing, just change the subject to alcohol.
First of all people need to know the major reason why MJ is illegal. First and formost - and most uncommonly known is because it is a weed. Hard to believe ha? but see this weed is unique in that it is very plantable and can cover entire mountain ranges and cave system within months of being planted = organized crime groups can hide their locations under a blanket of heat signatures. b) the money from the illegal sales of MJ goes to Crime groups that way more often then not, contribute to way more vile acts of Crime usualy world wide.
I think that MJ should be a controlled substance, and the finances that invested into it's preventetive measures at the moment would be much more usefull in controlling it's sales.
First the profit that is going to illegal organized crime groups from weed would instead go to the Goverment. The investment of money into making it illegal would go way down, and here I come to the biggest reason that it needs to be legalized - kids.
Wierd ha? Truth is though most people who are going to try to smoke MJ are not going to do it with the ambition of also getting into other narcotics that are way worse all around. But when it is illegal it brings the buyer, the young and the old into an atmosphere of crime and educates the buyer into what else is available. Instead of Nicotine Patches, Nicorette and other forms of mood stabliziers being the upsale at the vendor, you instead of have deadly narcotics to be upsaled with.
If the billions or at least millions that was spent on housing prisoners for selling, or the purchaser were instead put into monitoring and making sure that minors didn't have access to the drug by making the profit margin for the crime world plumet the over all effect would be amazing. Plus as one of the other contributors for this topic stated, the money could be put into(my own edit here) the medical treatment of people addicted to MJ for not natural need or reason instead of confining them with no job or anyway to progress in society(in the end keeping society behind).
Just because alcohol is bad it doesn't mean that pot is good.
No, it just means that we're hypocrites.
Maybe you are, but I think they're both bad.
I was, of course, referring to the legal considerations-- the societal hypocrisy. We say that one drug is socially acceptable and a "good" drug, by virtue of its legality, but consider another drug as socially unacceptable and a "bad" drug and make it illegal, even though the effects of the "good" drug have been shown to be more detrimental (by all measures) than the "bad" drug (in this specific comparison of alcohol to marijuana). It's hypocrisy of the highest order. It's like saying Apple Pie is a good pie and everyone should have the opportunity to eat it, but Apple Crumble is a bad pie and anyone who eats is a criminal psychopath liable to get fat. Neither one are particularly dangerous or "bad" when used responsibly.
Got it, lol. I agree.
More bugus numbers for y'all. The reason? Marijuana stays in your body for 30 days, Heroin, 72 hours, Cocain 48 hours.
Exactly, no mention in the report if this was factored in or not.
Your reason for calling the numbers "bogus' is bogus. A quick look at the 177 page report shows it is pretty extensive and they use both the information the people give them as well as the drug testing.
GK,
Yeah, but all us pot smokers know that we get the shaft on drug testing because pot shows up for about 30 days after smoking.........which means that if you logically follow this through the fact that those arrested and tested positive for pot says nothing about whether the pot had any causal effect on their being arrested.
They need to find a test that shows if you are under the influence at the time of the test. Not that you might have hit the bong 3 weeks ago. The current test should be held to be unconstitutional and an invasion of privacy.
Friend of mine had an accident at work. Hospital tested him positive for marijuana. Insurance would not cover his medical expenses. His company fired him. And it had been at a party a few weeks prior that he smoked the pot. Made it a little harder to find another job, too.
This schitt really sucks.
@Rocco
They are working on a saliva test that only shows positive if used in the last 4-6 hours. Hopefully that will help somewhat
They left out the most abused drug and the one that causes most of our society's problems - alcohol, why??? Because it's legal. How about tobacco, the most deadly health concern in America - (also legal). We need to end the farce which is the War on Drugs, War on (some) plants, and War on America! Decriminalize, tax and providing treatment will reduce crime and drug use as Portugal has proved over a decade ago! But until then, keep hitting your head against the wall over and over and expecting a different result, oh, and also USA #1 (in prisons!!!)
Don't forget about prescription drugs KJNG!
In 2007, 11,499 people in the United States died from opioid overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was more than the number of overdose deaths for heroin and cocaine combined.
kjing,
Both you and deemo are right on. Even in Zimmerman's case he was using adderall which users frequently claim to cause unreasonable rage and anger when the drug wears off. Oh, but it was prescribed so it's OK, huh? BS!
Don't forget about caffeine. The reason you see no reports on the effects of that is because there is not enough people in our society that DO NOT do it to have a control group. Look it up.
Alcohol was responsible for 75,000 deaths in the US last year. Murder was responsible for 15,000. Alcohol is 5x more dangerous than murderers.
Possession of under 4 ounces of Marijuana is not even an arrestable offense in Denver.
Wonder how they are getting these "arrest" numbers?
Which just proves that marijuana does have a long term effect on intelligence.
These guys were stupid enough to get caught.
Your comment surely proves your thesis.
Where I work, random drug testing of employees happens everyday. I have been tested three times. As use of pot increases, it gives the rest of us much needed job security in this never-ending recession.
Haha. Yes drug tests are never falsified.
or report false positives
your job performance should be your job security.
Exactly Jerry. Judge people on performance.
"These data confirm that we must address our drug problem as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue,” Kerlikowske said. “We cannot simply arrest our way out of the drug problem."
Finally, someone willing to put the vengeance of Richard Nixon and the judgmental attitude aside and talk about fixing the problem.
Precisely what I was thinking as I read the article.
The problem is that there's a huge bird perched on Gil's nose. The drug czar is required by law to lie if the truth won't do the trick.
How about pills? The scourge of society right now. We are raising more and more children who will be addicted to some kind of pill in their life. Kid doesn't listen at school, give them pills, kid is high strung, give 'em pills, kid is anti-social and doesn't get along with their classmates? Pop 'em full of pills!
What do they do when the become teenagers ?? Try any pill they can get their hands on ....
Big Al,
The hypocrisy of America? Didn't that dude Jesus get really pissed at hypocrites?
It should be proven by now that we are not winning a war against drugs. It is just another slogan to get the public to accept tax dollars being wasted. Actual wars that the public accepted for a time began with some kind of urging or fear from lawmakers but eventually the public gets wise and protest for a stop to the war. It is time we stop this war on drugs, enough tax dollars have been wasted in this approach.
People don't do cocaine anymore ........meth and prescription pills are what is killing our youth. The designer drug days are over ......Now it's about the dirty business of getting high. It will only get worse ....The meth and pill epidemic in America can not even be managed.
How about legalize pot and don't tax or regulate it...it's a damned weed after all. It can't be grown "wrong" and made into an addictive substance, and no, it's not addictive. If you think so, you've been brainwashed...maybe watched "Reefer Madness" too many times. We already have Uncle Sam's hand in our pockets everytime we turn around. How about legalize and cut gov't spending instead? War against drugs?? Ludicrous.
Shoot'n, Pop'n, snort'n, Smok'n.
"Chris Farley"
Just legalize Marijuana, tax it like crazy, and reap the economic benefits.
Prohibition never worked and never will.
There's more money in pot these days that's why. Pot is becoming more and more acceptable and Coke still carries longer prison terms. Get caught with an ounce of weed and chances are your on probation. Get caught with an ounce of Coke and chances are your doing 6 months or more in the house of corrections. An ounce of weed can easily be for personal use, and ounce of Coke is trafficking
Here here Stewie!
Other than the fact that pot is easy to grow ( a weed ) and thus it would be nearly impossible to regulate (tax & make profit off of)...why are alcohol, and pharmaceuticals, which are far more dangerous than pot...legal?
Or did I answer my own question?
No, all you did was demonstrate your utter ignorance of reality. Where in the world do people latch onto the lala land fantasy that you can't tax and regulate cannabis?
Drug use must NOT be treated as a chronic illness! That would just mean more public funds dumped into treatment programs.
Just legalize pot. It will save all of us a ton of money.
I agree with legalization. I think some of the money wasted on prohibition of peoples personal liberty should be used for drug treatment for those who are addicted to opiates, meth, coke ect..
What this article fails to do which is the logical thing is determine eachs drugs harm or lack there of in MJ's case individually. Then base policy around the science of the substance. Prohibition should not be a consideration in this policy though.
Many of the arrest's are probable going on in New York, where they can stop and search anyone for any reason, they find small amounts of pot, and you still get arrested!
Legalize and tax it!
Honestly the whole thing especially in the states that weed is illegal in is that if u legalize weed then u put the goverment out of work. look it up, they spend more money every year doing drug bust and raids on weed related incidents, than u will find for coke, meth, crack, or any of your stringer drugs. look at it like this, u legalize weed then u get rid of weed dealers on the street, in turn u eliminate the need for the amount of police a city has on the force, in turn leaves alot of people in the court system jobless. once again, no drug dealers on the streets, and weed being legal, that means at least 75% of substance abuse programs income is gone,b/c any city u go to and talk to someone doing C.R.O. is there due to a weed charge. now u say alcohol is bad too; yes but everybody drinks and u have enough people who D.U.I. to account for the other part of C.R.O. income. u wont hear most states where weed is still illegal fussing about how bad it is unless u get people protesting about it, b/c like in the beginnig as i stated goverment does not want to lose that money coming in. do ur home work and just think for a minute, everything i put here for a reason, but everyone has there own reason for doing things, mostly money. REMEMBER:IF ITS LEGAL THEN PEOPLE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS LOSE MONEY, AND RICH PEOPLE DONT WANNA GO BROKE!! For more info watch "SUPER HIGH ME"
The proton pump inhibitors the Big Pharma is pushing at everyone, "just one pill and you'll be heartburn free all day" will cause false positive results for cannabinoids on drug screens.
Its simple: Pot totally rocks but coke is something everyone could just live without.
Now imagine how much arrests and prison time would drop if they just made marijuana legal. It's way over due. Less money spent of tax payers dollars to lock up marijuana smokers. Taxing it raises revenue, opening shops gives people jobs and opens more business. Too bad the conservatives would never go for it. Pretty sure 3 of our country's problems would be solved just by legalizing it.
Very little tax payer money is used to lock up marijuana smokers. Almost all the money being used is printed up out of thin air.
If the government had to use real money, they wouldn't be able to get away with this nonsense.
It's amazing how all the opponents to legalization cry what about the Children I don't want them smoking pot. Well I guess it's OK for them to see Dad toss back a few and have Junior grab him another Beer out of the fridge. And it's so funny when Uncle Bill gets Drunk he's a Riot. Teaching our "Children" well aren't we you Hypocritical Sauceheads your Liver is loving you for it.
Referring to children is a standard tactic for politicians, one which Hitler mastered.
Alcohol kills brain cells.
What purpose does it serve to have pot illegal other than to provide the Government a platform for which to have funds filtered to? Pot should not be illegal. Not only for the casual use of it but for the paper hemp produces and can save needless culling of forests for paper products. It should never have been made illegal. I do not understand how they cannot see beyond the biased Timber Baron that lobbied to make it illegal.
Marijuana is used as a recruitment tool by intelligence agencies. If it was legal, the government would not be involved in the dirty tricks that they are. One foreign official recently said that there will never be a coup in America because there are no US Embassies there.
In a way our Nation's drug policy proves why we need the Federal Reserve Bank. As most of us know the politicians who set the drug policy don't know squat about drug addiction and treatment and often times they shout down the more reasonable policy-makers, who typically are bureaucrats with expertise in their field. The Nation's drug policies, which are set by in large by politicians are draconian and ill-advised and inefficient wastes of money and manpower. Now imagine our Nation's woes if politicians set the monetary policies for our economy. First, they would have no expertise in the field of economics; and, second they would pander to their base and their economic decisions would be founded, wrongfully, in political talking points and the hatred that our political system seems to have fostered recently. Keynes mentions this in the General Theory of Money, Interest and Employment. Read it.
Funny, the dollar would have more value if it was backed by pot.