Pubdate: Fri, 24 May 2013
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2013 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/0n4cG7L1
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Author: Bill Lindelof

78% OF COUNTY'S ARRESTED MEN TEST POSITIVE FOR DRUGS

The nation's drug czar on Thursday released a report stating that 78 
percent of adult males arrested in Sacramento County tested positive 
for at least one illegal drug.

Gil Kerlikowske , director of national drug control policy, during an 
address at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., released the 
results of a 2012 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring report that 
collected data from inmates in five cities or counties.

In his address, he said more than half of adult males arrested for 
crimes, misdemeanors and felonies tested positive for a least one drug.

The five cities or counties in the report were Atlanta, Chicago, 
Denver, New York and Sacramento.

Positive results ranged from 62 percent in Atlanta to 86 percent in Chicago.

"My law enforcement colleagues and I know that we cannot arrest or 
incarcerate our way out of the drug problem," said Kerlikowske in a 
copy of his prepared remarks. "Although law enforcement will always 
play a vital role in addressing violent drug-related crime and 
protecting our families and neighborhoods, we must approach drug 
policy from a public health standpoint, not just a criminal justice issue."

Other findings from the report:

A total of 53 percent of those arrested in Sacramento tested positive 
for marijuana.

Forty percent of Sacramento arrestees tested positive for methamphetamine.

Sacramento had the highest proportion of methamphetamine positives, 
but the fewest positives for cocaine (9 percent) compared with any of 
the other monitoring sites.

Seventy percent of those testing positive for any drug had never been 
in any drug or alcohol treatment. That, according to drug policy 
officials, highlights the need to expand services that address substance abuse.

84 percent of those tested in Sacramento had a prior arrest.

Samples were drawn from all adult men who were arrested, not just 
those arrested on drug charges, according to a press release from the 
drug policy director's office.
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