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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 10:06 A.M. EDTNIJ
SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1998202/307-0703

PRESIDENT CLINTON FOCUSES ON DRUG ABUSE PATTERNS ACROSS THE NATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Clinton today announced findings from a new research report that shows that cocaine and crack use is generally low and declining among young arrestees. As a result, the cocaine and crack using population is now gradually aging and overall cocaine and crack using populations are declining in many sites, particularly in large cities such as New York, Washington, D.C. and Detroit. The report, Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program: 1997 Annual Report on Adult and Juvenile Arrestees, was released today by the Justice Department's National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

"Today, our crime rate is the lowest in 25 years and there are 50 percent fewer Americans using drugs than 15 years ago," said President Clinton. "But we still have more to do."

The ADAM study reveals that drug use trends tend to be very localized. In Portland, for example, 27 percent of adult female arrestees tested positive for opiate use, while in San Jose it is less than 1 percent. In San Diego, 27 percent of 17 to 18-year-old detainees tested positive for methamphetamine use. But, in Los Angeles, 9 percent of that same group tested positive for methamphetamine.

"ADAM assists both law enforcement officials and drug treatment providers as they work together to stop drug use and abuse and the crime it spawns," said NIJ Director Jeremy Travis. "Data collected under the ADAM program highlight the complex nature of the drug abuse problem and the need for communities to target law enforcement and treatment interventions appropriately."

The study found that high rates of methamphetamine use are largely confined to Western U.S. cities, particularly in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose, Portland and Phoenix. Other analyses, however, show that in Atlanta, St. Louis and Chicago, where overall rates of methamphetamine are low, white arrestees show increasing levels of use of methamphetamine, which suggests that it may be spreading beyond the Western states. Methamphetamine users have traditionally been more likely to be white or Hispanic.

"So far, methamphetamine is not becoming the crack epidemic of the 1990's," said Attorney General Janet Reno. "That is, in part, because of the Administration's National Methamphetamine Strategy, which brings together a broad spectrum of U.S. and international law enforcement, public awareness campaigns, education and addiction treatment efforts."

Use of heroin--suggested by increasing rates of detection of opiate use--has increased in a number of communities beyond Manhattan, Chicago and Portland, the three sites historically with the highest rates of opiate use. Opiate rates are increasing among young arrestees in New Orleans, Philadelphia and St. Louis.

In 1987, NIJ created the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) Program, a national and local information system on drug abuse and crime. In 1997, the DUF Program was redesigned and renamed ADAM (Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring) to reflect the anticipated geographic expansion of the program to 75 standing urban sites and its development as a research platform for use locally, regionally and nationally. ADAM also facilitates locally initiated research on topics related to drugs and crime identified by communities.

The ADAM Program consists of collecting and analyzing interviews and urinalysis of adult and juvenile arrestees and detainees in police lock-ups. Once fully developed, ADAM will serve as a source of information about drug use in our nation's cities, suburbs, rural areas and Native American sites.

In 1997, the ADAM program collected data in 23 major metropolitan sites. As part of NIJ's development of ADAM, in 1998 it expanded to 35 sites. Attached is a list of the 35 sites.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the Department of Justice, is the primary sponsor of criminal justice research and evaluations of programs to reduce crime. For additional information about NIJ, the Internet address is https://ojp.gov/nij. General information about the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is available at https://ojp.gov.

Copies of the 1997 ADAM Annual Report are available on the Internet at https://ojp.gov/nij, or from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) by calling toll-free, 1-800/851-3420.

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NIJ 98-152

After hours contact: James Phillips at 888/491-4487 (pager)

OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE

EXISTING ADAM SITES

Atlanta, GA
Birmingham, AL
Chicago, IL
Cleveland, OH
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Houston, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Los Angeles, CA
Manhattan (NYC), NY
Miami, FL
New Orleans, LA
Omaha, NE
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Portland, OR
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Jose, CA
St. Louis, MO
Washington, DC

ADAM SITES ADDED IN FY 1998

Albuquerque, NM
Anchorage, AK
Des Moines, IA
Laredo, TX
Las Vegas, NV
Minneapolis, MN
Oklahoma City, OK
Sacramento, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
Seattle, WA
Spokane, WA
Tucson, AZ