Pubdate: Sat, 22 Jul 2000
Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Copyright: 2000 San Antonio Express-News
Contact:  http://www.expressnews.com/
Forum: http://data.express-news.net:2080/eshare/server?action4
Author: Dane Schiller, S.A. CROOKS LESS LIKELY TO BE ON DRUGS

San Antonio's criminals are less likely to be on drugs than criminals in
other cities.

That's according to a U.S. Justice Department finding that half of men and
one-third of women arrested in the city, who agreed to be tested, had
illegal drugs in their system.

The numbers place San Antonio the lowest out of 34 cities for drug-usage
rates among criminals.

The study also found that male arrestees were more likely to use marijuana,
but females were more likely to use cocaine, according to the 1999 Arrestee
Drug Abuse Monitoring program, officials said Friday.

The program is an arm of the Justice Department.

Results reinforced a link between drug use and crime, but officials were
stumped as to why San Antonio appeared to have fewer drug-using criminals
than other cities, and why women locally were using cocaine more than
marijuana.

"I don't believe our drug problems here are any less intensive than they are
in any other city," said Sharon Shook, executive director for the San
Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

"I know we have serious drug problems here," Shook said.

Approximately 1,400 adults jailed in San Antonio voluntarily submitted to
interviews and urinalysis for cocaine, marijuana, opiates, PCP and
methamphetamine.

Charles Barksdale, executive director of the Palmer Drug Abuse Program, said
it was impressive that San Antonio's usage rate was lower than other cities,
but that he was puzzled why among women cocaine surpassed marijuana, a drug
that has long been less expensive and more available.

"That really surprises me," he said.

Drug use varied regionally, according to the report, which looked at cities
coast to coast and three other Texas locations: Dallas, Houston and Laredo.

The percentage of female arrestees who tested positive for illegal drugs
ranged from 22 percent in Laredo and 31 percent in San Antonio to 81 percent
in New York City.

While half the arrested males tested positive in San Antonio, 77 percent
tested positive in Atlanta a -- the high for the nation, according to the
report.

"The important thing is for city leaders in San Antonio to know what their
situation is," said Jack Riley, director of the Rand Criminal Justice
Program.

"I think that kind of local information is power," said Riley, who from 1996
to 1999 headed the Justice Department's drug abuse monitoring program.

Results point to what kind of problem the community is facing and what kind
of treatment and prevention programs are needed, he said from his office in
Santa Monica, Calif.

Riley said he was unsure why more women in San Antonio were choosing cocaine
over marijuana, but said it would be tough to compare the drug habits of
male and female prisoners.

"In order for a woman to be identified, caught and arrested, she has to
stand out as a more deviant case (than a man)," he said.

"Those individuals may be more likely to be involved in cocaine use than
marijuana."

A similar Justice Department survey conducted in 1997 also found that San
Antonio female arrestees were more likely to have used cocaine than
marijuana.

The San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County District Attorney's
office could not be reached for comment.

Washington officials said the findings confirmed some old ideas about drugs.

"The (Justice Department) study reinforces what we already know -- there is
a strong link between drug use and criminal behavior," Attorney General
Janet Reno said in a statement.

"These findings emphasize the need for local, comprehensive approaches to
address drug use among at-risk individuals," she added.

Barry McCaffrey, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy, said the study shows that the use of illegal drugs will have to be
further combated to reduce the crime rate.

"If we are to successfully confront drug abuse and the resultant crime, then
we must expand America's current system of dealing with drug offenders," he
said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk