NCJ Number
109681
Journal
Contemporary Drug Problems Volume: 14 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1987) Pages: 315-353
Date Published
1987
Length
39 pages
Annotation
Personal interviews conducted in 1980-1981 with 74 heroin users in metropolitan Detroit treatment programs showed some support for decriminalization.
Abstract
Prior research on factors contributing to politicization of deviant behavior is reviewed. Participation in this survey was voluntary, and respondents were paid $5.00 at completion of the interview. The respondents reported a mean age of 28 years, and most had begun their heroin use in later adolescence. The survey results indicate that those most marginal to deviant subcultures are more inclined to question heroin prohibition. These data also suggest that major medical and legal social control institutions, such as methadone treatment programs, actually serve to undermine respect for existing laws criminalizing heroin use. Moreover, there is evidence that perceptions of criminal justice system abuses encourage support for decriminalization among blacks more so than whites. The paper concludes that organized efforts to politicize the problem and decriminalize heroin use hardly seem imminent. Tables, the survey instrument, and over 50 references. (Author summary modified)