Preface

Summary

In July 1999, after two developmental stages, the UK government established a program of arrestee monitoring, similar to the ADAM program in the United States, titled the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) program. The program was designed primarily to collect urine specimens and to conduct personal interviews with recently arrested offenders to understand better the nature of the drug-crime connection. The surveys also provided information on related issues, such as use of weapons and guns in crime, gang membership, and drug markets.

The main aim of this book is to bring together the results of the NEW-ADAM program in a single volume. Some of the findings of the program have already been published in government reports and in articles in peer-reviewed journals. However, other findings have not been published. This book provides an opportunity to combine both published and unpublished material from the NEW-ADAM program in a single source.

The main research issue covered by the book is to investigate the nature of the association between drug use and crime. It is widely believed that there is a connection. Nevertheless, the findings of research on the topic are mixed. There have been many studies that have shown that there is a connection. However, there have been others that have shown that there is none. There have been some studies that have shown that drug use is associated with more crime and others that drug use is associated with less crime.