Patterns of Criminal Activity among Methadone Clients and Current Narcotics Users Not in Treatment

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana E. Hunt ◽  
Douglas S. Lipton ◽  
Barry Spunt
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Methadone Maintenance ◽  
Methadone Treatment ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Cross Tolerance ◽  
Heroin Use ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Treatment Population

Much prior research has looked at the changes in criminal activity of narcotics addicts when they enter methadone maintenance treatment programs. Because of the special nature of methadone, a drug which produces a cross-tolerance to other opiates in the user making continued heroin use difficult, the methadone treatment population has also been examined for answers to basic questions about the relationship between drug use and crime. This paper draws on interviews and ethnographic data collection with 368 methadone maintenance clients and 142 narcotics users not currently in treatment to explore the relationship between drug use and criminal activity. Results indicate that methadone clients are not only less involved in criminal activity than users not in treatment, but also among those clients who do continue criminal activity, there is less involvement in more serious crimes such as robbery, burglary, or dealing heroin and cocaine. The differences between those in treatment and those not in treatment are not a function of a lower level or criminal activity prior to treatment, but relate to being in treatment. Methadone clients who continue to commit crime are either clients continuing to use heroin and/or cocaine or clients for whom crime is an income or an income supplement.

Heroin Use and Street Crime

1979 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Inciardi
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Street Crime ◽  
Heroin Use ◽  
Heroin Users ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between heroin use and street crime has been studied for the better part of this century, but the findings have been inconclusive. Research in this area has been limited to analyses of criminality in terms of arrest data, and samples have been drawn only from officially known populations of drug users. The present study focuses on a sample of 356 active heroin users from Miami, Florida, and data have been collected de scribing their officially known and self-reported criminal activity. The data indicate that, while active heroin users are heavily involved in street crime, any relationship between drug use and crime is much more complex than has been generally believed. The findings of the research suggest that the wrong questions may have been asked in previous studies of the drugs/crime nexus.

Examining a migration-based phenomenon of heroin use in an urban drug scene in Sao Paulo, Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Ribeiro ◽  
Rosana Frajzinger ◽  
Luciane Ogata Perrenoud ◽  
Benedikt Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Crack Cocaine ◽  
Methadone Treatment ◽  
Rapid Test ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Heroin Use ◽  
Heroin Users ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Brazil’s street-based drug use is mostly characterized by non-injection psychostimulant (e.g. crack-cocaine) drug use in Brazil, with limited interventions and service availability. Recently, an influx of multi-ethnic migrants within an urban drug scene in Sao Paulo was associated with heroin use, a drug normatively absent from Brazil. The purpose of this paper is to characterize and compare heroin use-related characteristics and outcomes for an attending sub-sample of clients from a large community-based treatment centre (“CRATOD”) serving Sao Paulo’s local urban drug scene. Design/methodology/approach All non-Brazilian patients (n = 109) receiving services at CRATOD for 2013–2016 were identified from patient files, divided into heroin users (n = 40) and non-heroin users (n = 69). Based on chart reviews, select socio-demographic, drug use and health status (including blood-borne-virus and other infections per rapid test methods) were examined and bi-variately compared. Multi-variate analyses examined factors independently associated with heroin use. Findings Most participants were male and middle-aged, poly-drug users and socio-economically marginalized. While heroin users primarily originated from Africa, they reported significantly more criminal histories, drug (e.g. injection) and sex-risk behaviors and elevated rates of BBV (e.g. Hepatitis C Virus and HIV). A minority of heroin users attending the clinic was provided methadone treatment, mostly for detoxification. Originality/value This study documented information on a distinct sample of mostly migration-based heroin users in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Based on the local experience, global migration dynamics can bring changes to established drug use cultures and services, including new challenges for drug use-related related behaviors and therapeutic interventions that require effective understanding and addressing.

The Effects of Methadone Maintenance with Opioid Takers: A Review and Some Findings from One British City

1978 ◽  
Vol 132 (5) ◽  
pp. 473-481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Paxton ◽  
Patrick Mullin ◽  
Jack Beattie
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Social Functioning ◽  
Social Adjustment ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Methadone Maintenance ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Illicit Drug Use ◽  
Work Status ◽  
Methadone Group ◽  
Firm Evidence

SummaryVarious benefits claimed for methadone maintenance in the treatment of opioid drug takers are reviewed. It is said to stop illicit drug use, maintain treatment contact, reduce morbidity, mortality and crime, and improve social adjustment. Little firm evidence is found to support these claims. Results are reported comparing 26 drug takers on methadone prescriptions with 16 illicit opioid takers. The measures used are Stimson's (1972) ‘Patterns of Behaviour’ questionnaire, and direct behavioural measures of social functioning. The groups are found not to differ in terms of treatment contact, work status and involvement with other drug takers. There is some evidence that the methadone group is involved in less criminal activity. However, no association is found between amounts of drugs prescribed and numbers of local pharmacy thefts. It is concluded that the benefits of methadone maintenance have been exaggerated.

Making Sense of the Heroin-Crime Link

1989 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 259-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Dobinson
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Crime Statistics ◽  
Heroin Use ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The Social ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
Causal Theories ◽  
The Relationship

This article explores the heroin/crime relationship in Australia by drawing across data from three reports produced by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. It is contended that the relationship between heroin use and crime is best understood in terms of the antecedents and consequences of regular heroin use, and the social context in which both drug use and crime occur. It is argued that causal theories have “camouflaged” these factors. The implications for policy are briefly reviewed.

Crime and Drugs: The Issues and Literature

1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duane C. McBride ◽  
Clyde B. McCoy
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Design ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Statistical Association ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Heroin Use ◽  
Research Issues ◽  
Causal Priority ◽  
The Relationship

It is the purpose of this paper to examine the major research issues in the study of the relationship between crime and drugs and to examine the relevant research literature as it applies to those issues. Typologies are constructed for both criminal and drug using behavior and it is argued that the relationship between crime and drugs should be examined for each type of crime and each type of drug. A variety of issues regarding the nature of the relationship are discussed. These issues include the statistical association, causal priority, heroin use and increased, sustained and type of criminal activity, the direction of the causal effect and the ecology of crime and drugs. Finally, it is argued that a longitudinal design is necessary before the complexities of the nature of the crime-drug relationship can begin to be unraveled.

The Accuracy of Drug Use Monitoring in Methadone Treatment

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Magura ◽  
Douglas S. Lipton
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Methadone Maintenance ◽  
Methadone Treatment ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Methadone Dosage ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Alternative Responses ◽  
Layer Chromatography ◽  
Level Of Agreement

Patients' urinalysis results are used in methadone maintenance programs to help make decisions about methadone dosage, medication take-home privileges, referrals for employment and job training and detoxification from methadone. Little systematic research exists, however, addressing the adequacy of the procedures used to detect illicit drug use. This study examined the accuracy of patients' clinic thin-layer chromatography (TLC) urinalysis profiles by comparing these with two independent measures of drug use; patient self-reports of drug use and urinalysis using a more sensitive test, enzyme immunoassay (EMIT). A representative sample of 229 patients in three methadone clinics was studied. The study found that drug use as measured by self-reports or by EMIT is 2.5 times higher than use as measured by TLC. The level of agreement between self-reports and EMIT was high, while the levels of agreement between these measures and clinic TLC urinalysis were low. Clinic decisions about take-home medication were shown to be correlated with clinic urinalysis results. The study examines the causes and consequences of inaccurate drug screening and discusses possible alternative responses to the problem for the methadone treatment field.

scholarly journals Methadone treatment and its dangers

Medicina ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 419
Author(s):  
Dagmara Reingardienė ◽  
Liucija Jodžiūnienė ◽  
Robertas Lažauskas
Keyword(s):  
Opioid Receptors ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Methadone Maintenance ◽  
Methadone Treatment ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Heroin Use ◽  
Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program ◽  
Methadone Overdose ◽  
Long Acting ◽  
Μ Opioid Receptors

Methadone is a long-acting synthetic opioid with high affinity for various opioid receptors, especially for μ-opioid receptors. Methadone has been used as a successful pharmacologic intervention for the treatment of heroin dependence and acute and chronic pain. This treatment is effective for opiate addiction, reducing morbidity and mortality associated with heroin use. However, overdosing with methadone has become a growing phenomenon because of the increased availability of this drug. Patients enrolled in a methadone maintenance treatment program may become physically dependent and may experience methadone withdrawal symptoms. In this review article, there are discussed about pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of methadone, clinical symptoms of its overdose, dosage problems, detection of methadone in biological samples, treatment, and causes of methadone overdose-related deaths.

Influences Affecting Maintenance and Cessation of Narcotics Addiction

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard C. Bailey ◽  
Yih-Ing Hser ◽  
Shih-Chao Hsieh ◽  
M. Douglas Anglin
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Methadone Treatment ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Criminal Involvement ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic ◽  
Report Data ◽  
Self Report Data ◽  
Severe Punishment

A sample of 354 narcotics addicts remanded to the California Civil Addict Program (CAP) in 1962–64 was followed for over twenty-four years. Self-report data collected at initial treatment admission and in two follow-up interviews (1974–75 and 1985–86) included information on family history, patterns of drug use and criminal involvement, and other behaviors. The sample was classified into four exclusive groups: Winners (N=59), who had been abstinent from narcotics and other serious drug use and had not been involved in criminal activity during the thirty-six-month period prior to interview; Striving addicts ( N=46), who had been abstinent from narcotics use, but not necessarily other drugs, and had no incarceration for a period of twelve months prior to interview; Enduring addicts ( N=146), who had used narcotics and typically other drugs within the prior 12-month period, but had avoided incarceration; and Incarcerated addicts ( N=103), incarcerated at some time during the twelve-month period, and whose drug use was varied. Winners had generally negative familial experiences including little encouragement from parents, who in the main had adverse relationships, higher rates of sexual molestation, and were least happy in childhood. Despite this environment Winners evidenced early independence and self-confidence. Striving addicts were characterized by usually non-substance-using, church-going parents. Most had ceased narcotics use, but remained heavily involved with alcohol and marijuana. Enduring addicts, mostly from lower socioeconomic status families that exhibited extensive substance use and physical arguments, commonly accessed methadone treatment and avoided incarceration while persisting in narcotic addiction and crime. Incarcerated addicts, typically raised in dysfunctional, substance-using families, received the most parental caring along with the most severe punishment. They exhibited persistent involvement in crime, violence, and drug use.

An Update on Drug Dependence in the Elderly

1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emil F. Pascarelli
Keyword(s):  
Drug Abuse ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Socioeconomic Factors ◽  
Drug Dependence ◽  
Present Status ◽  
Youth Culture ◽  
Drugs Of Abuse ◽  
Methadone Treatment ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Treatment Programs

The present status of drug abuse patterns among the elderly is complex. As we learn more about drug dependence, stereotyped ideas have given way to the realization that medical, psychiatric, environmental and socioeconomic factors play a major role in the way drugs are perceived and misused by the elderly. While opiates use persists, many elderly are now in methadone treatment programs where the median age continues to rise. Presently the principal drugs of abuse for the aged are in the category of depressants including alcohol. Mixed drug use is particularly hazardous. Hallucinogens, marijuana and stimulants are primarily drugs of the youth culture.

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