NCJ Number
214386
Date Published
September 2002
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This report presents information and data (collected between May and August 2002) from Baltimore County's (Maryland) Juvenile OPUS (Offender Population Urinalysis Screening) Intake Study, which is a urinalysis drug monitoring program for juveniles processed by the county's Department of Juvenile Justice; project goals are to monitor changes in drug use and identify emerging drugs of abuse among juvenile offenders.
Abstract
Forty-one of the processed juveniles were interviewed and asked to provide a urine specimen. Fifteen percent tested positive for marijuana only; 14 percent of the youths ages 14 and under tested positive for any drug, compared to 18 percent of those 15 years old and older. The juveniles agreed in their view that marijuana was the most commonly used drug in their communities. The majority of the youths indicated they knew little about ecstasy. Seventy percent of the tested juveniles were males. Sixty-four percent were charged with a property offense, 15 percent with a personal offense, and 6 percent with a drug-related offense. Consent for participation in the project was obtained from the juveniles and their parents. A 10-15-minute semistructured interview asked the juveniles to talk about drug use by their peers in their schools, neighborhoods, and communities, but they were not asked about their own drug use. Voluntary, anonymous urine specimens were collected and screened for 10 drugs: amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, marijuana, methadone, methaqualone, opiates, phencyclidine (PCP), and propoxyphene. 2 tables and 1 figure