Costly Bonus: Cocaine Related Crime Among Methadone Treatment Clients

• NCJ Number: 127774
• Journal: Advances in Alcohol and Substance Abuse Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: (1987) Pages: 107-122
• Author(s): D Hunt; B Spunt; D Lipton; D Goldsmith; D Strug
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1H81 DA 02300-01
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Denver, Colorado, November 1983.

Annotation

The relationship between cocaine use and criminal activity is examined using a sample of 510 subjects, 368 currently in methadone treatment and 142 currently not in treatment who are active users of cocaine and heroin. The subjects are at an income level where their cocaine habit presents immediate financial difficulties and most have developed illegal skills.

Abstract

Interviews covered criminal activity, treatment history, drug history, employment history, attitudes toward treatment, family relationships, current living arrangements, and patterns of drug and alcohol use. The results indicate that clients in methadone programs have increased their cocaine use over the past 10 years. Cocaine appears to play an important role in the criminal activity of methadone clients and cocaine users not in treatment. There is a direct relationship between cocaine use and increasing criminal involvement because of the drug's inherent properties and the cost and lifestyle associated with its use. 5 tables and 26 references (Author abstract modified)