NCJ Number
138262
Date Published
1992
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study of a health district in Sussex, England, focused on the ways in which police interventions affected the supply networks of heroin operating in the town as well as the harmfulness of the users' behavior.
Abstract
The heroin users in the sample were typically male, in their late twenties to early forties, had worked their way through the spectrum of drugs, and were all injectors. There were strong social and friendship bonds between members of the cohort, who had grown up in the area and started using drugs together in school. The study described the types of heroin distribution networks operating in the area over a period of 10 years, police actions against the networks, and the corresponding network responses. These findings confirmed previous research indicating that policing of heroin distribution networks rarely eliminates heroin from an area over the long term. Police officers who participated in a survey advocated a strategy combining treatment and punishment. They appeared willing to give information to drug users to encourage treatment and harm reduction strategies. 3 tables and 7 references