NCJ Number
238448
Date Published
March 2012
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This report from the UK Government's Home Office provides information on the Drug Data Warehouse, a source of information on drug users and drug using offenders in the United Kingdom's criminal justice system.
Abstract
This report is intended for use by policymakers and practitioners who work with drug users involved with the United Kingdom's criminal justice system. The Drug Data Warehouse was developed as a resource for providing information on drug users and drug-using offenders. The Warehouse was constructed by linking several separate criminal justice and drug treatment datasets to produce a single anonymized database of drug users and drug-using offenders. Individuals in the database are categorized according to subgroups and they may belong to one or more subgroup at the same time. The subgroups include drug users identified through drug treatment programs, probation/prison services, drug intervention programs at the time of arrest, drug intervention programs in a community setting, and those classified as prolific and other priority offenders by local authorities. Analysis of data in the Drug Data Warehouse indicates that the majority of drug users in drug intervention programs and drug treatment groups used heroin and/or crack cocaine, 71 percent and 69 percent, respectively, while only 44 percent of drug users identified by probation or prison services were treated for heroin or crack cocaine use. Additional data analysis also indicates overlapping of subgroups in regards to different types of illegal substances used. Tables and appendixes