The Monetary Value of Saving a High-Risk Youth

Programs targeted at high-risk youth are designed to prevent high-school dropout, crime, drug abuse, and other forms of delinquency. Even if shown to be successful in reducing one or more social ill, a key policy question is whether the cost to society from that intervention program exceeds its benefits. Although the costs of intervention programs are often available, the benefits are more illusive. This paper provides estimates of the potential benefits from “saving” a high-risk youth, by estimating the lifetime costs associated with the typical career criminal, drug abuser, and high-school dropout. In the absence of controlled experimental data on the number of career criminals averted, one can ask the reverse question—How many career criminals must be prevented before the program “pays for itself?” Based on a 2% discount rate, the typical career criminal causes $1.3–$1.5 million in external costs; a heavy drug user, $370,000 to $970,000; and a high-school dropout, $243,000 to $388,000. Eliminating duplication between crimes committed by individuals who are both heavy drug users and career criminals results in an overall estimate of the “monetary value of saving a high-risk youth” of $1.7 to $2.3 million.     

Social learning and adolescent deviance abstention: Toward understanding the reasons for initiating,quitting, and avoiding drugs

Tests of theories that attempt to explain why individuals currently use drugs are widespread; however, the theoretical examinations of abstention from drugs and the cessation of their use are rare. For its part, social learning theory has been supported consistently in its delineation of the process by which substance use is learned. We propose that cessation and abstention are also learned behavior. Using logistic regression analysis, we examine the ability of social learning variables to distinguish among abstainers, current users, and former users of illicit drugs within a sample of 1688 middle- and high-school students in two widely separated nonurban communities. Results indicate that social learning variables clearly distinguish abstainers from current users but are less able to distinguish former users and current users or former users from abstainers. The theoretical, research, and policy implications of these findings are examined in detail.     

台湾地区毒品戒治与再犯之研究（节选）

反毒、禁毒的刑事政策归纳其中不外“断绝供给、减少需求”也就是“缉毒、戒毒、拒毒”等三大重点。目前 ,台湾地区参与戒毒工作的有医疗、宗教、矫正机关及观护等四大体系。《毒品危害防制条例》于 1998年 5月 2 2日公告施行以来 ,“缉毒”与“拒毒”已有成效 ,使得药物、毒品滥用之情形获得控制 ,毒品犯占整体犯罪人口之比例减缓增长 ,但“戒毒”却无进展。可见戒治与计划之成效有待加以检讨 ,以达到对毒品及药物成瘾者累犯、再犯严重情形之有效控制。     

打击毒品犯罪应重减少需求——需求供给均衡理论对打击毒品犯罪的启发

虽然世界各国都在大力禁毒,但是全世界的吸毒人数仍在持续增加。禁毒,重的是打击贩毒者(卖方),但是在毒品市场上如果没有需求者(买方)即吸毒者,也就不存在供应者(卖方)即贩毒者。所以,打击毒品犯罪应当重减少需求。     

Revolving Roles in Drug-Related Crime: The Cost of Chronic Drug Users as Victims and Perpetrators

Numerous studies have established a strong connection between the use of illicit drugs and the commission of other illegal activities, including both predatory and property crimes. No study, however, has examined the cost of crimes associated with drug users both as victims and as perpetrators. In the present study, recent data were analyzed from a targeted sample of chronic drug users (CDUs) and a matched sample of non-drug users (NDUs) in Miami-Dade County, Florida, to estimate the incremental cost of crime associated with CDU. Two separate models were employed to estimate (1) the probability of being a victim or a perpetrator of crime and (2) the cost of crime for both situations. The cost measures were transformed to reduce the influence of extreme outliers, and a smearing technique was used to compare the cost of crime for CDUs relative to NDUs. The findings illustrate that criminal activity among CDUs is circular, extensive, and costly. Implications for law enforcement, criminal justice policy, and substance abuse treatment are discussed.     

中小学毒品预防教育的困惑与出路——以贵州为个案进行研究

对青少年学生进行毒品预防教育是禁毒教育的重要组成部分,是有效开展禁毒斗争的基础性工作.目前中小学毒品预防教育中存在的问题有:学校主渠道作用没有充分发挥,"三大差别"难以消除,"两专"没有保障,学校与家庭、社区的合力没有形成.对此,必须采取相应措施,增强学校毒品预防教育的主动性,提高中小学生的防毒拒毒意识.     

积极开展对青少年禁毒的健康教育

本文论述了毒吕犯罪是当今世界的头号社会问题 ,当前我国青少年吸毒的主要特点、原因、危害 ,及广泛地、积极的开展禁毒健康教育的重要性。     

Identification of the veterinary sedative medetomidine in combination with opioids and xylazine in Maryland

Public health, public safety, and forensic science personnel continue to face the emergence of new compounds into the drug market. While focus is often put on the detection of new analogs of known illicit drugs, monitoring the changes in cutting agents and other compounds can be equally as important. Over the last year, near real-time monitoring of the drug supply in Maryland has been completed through a public health–public safety partnership whereby residue from suspected drug packaging or used paraphernalia is collected and analyzed. Through this project, we have recently detected the presence of the veterinary sedative medetomidine in a small number of samples. The presence of medetomidine has been identified in both public health and law enforcement samples and in the presence of fentanyl and xylazine—another veterinary sedative that has been widely observed over the last year. While the rate at which medetomidine has been detected remains low, it is concerning and worthy of continued monitoring.     

Emergence of fentanyl-related deaths in Travis County,Texas and surrounding areas: A retrospective review of postmortem fentanyl-related drug toxicities from 2020 to 2022

The opioid epidemic has affected the United States (US) for decades with fentanyl and its analogs accounting for a recent surge in morbidity and mortality. Currently, there is a relative lack of information characterizing fentanyl-related fatalities specifically in the Southern US. A retrospective study was conducted to examine all postmortem fentanyl-related drug toxicities in Travis County, Texas, encompassing Austin (one of the fastest-growing cities in the US), from 2020 to 2022. Fentanyl contributed to 2.6% and 12.2% of deaths submitted for toxicology between 2020 and 2022, respectively, representing a 375% increase in fentanyl-related deaths over this 3-year period (n = 517). Fentanyl-related fatalities primarily occurred in males in their mid-30s. Fentanyl and norfentanyl concentrations ranged from 0.58 to 320 ng/mL and 0.53 to 140 ng/mL with mean (median) concentrations of 17.2 ± 25.0 (11.0) and 5.6 ± 10.9 (2.9) ng/mL, respectively. Polydrug use was present in 88% of cases, with methamphetamine (or other amphetamines) (25%), benzodiazepines (21%), and cocaine (17%) representing the most frequently identified concurrent substances. Co-positivity rates of various drugs and drug classes widely varied over time. Scene investigations reported illicit powder(s) (n = 141) and/or illicit pill(s) (n = 154) in 48% (n = 247) of fentanyl-related deaths. Illicit oxycodone (44%, n = 67) and illicit “Xanax” (38%, n = 59) pills were frequently reported on scene; however, toxicology only identified oxycodone and alprazolam in 2 and 24 of these cases, respectively. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the fentanyl epidemic in this region creating an opportunity to promote increased awareness, shift focus to harm reduction, and aid in minimizing public health risks.     

我国禁毒立法的历史演进（1949—1998）

我国禁毒立法秉承了自晚清以来三次禁毒运动的成果,并且以革命根据地时期禁毒的立法实践为历史渊源。1949年至1978年间,禁毒立法以中国共产党和各级政府的相关政策、文件为主要法律形式,以各大行政区的立法为重心。1979年至1998年间,以"严打"为政策导向,逐渐建立了以刑法为主、行政法与地方立法为辅的禁毒立法体系,主要法律形式有刑事法律、行政法律、行政法规、部门规章及其他规范性文件、"两高"司法文件、批准、签署的反毒国际公约和条约、地方性立法及其他规范性文件、民族自治地方的立法等。1998年以后,禁毒政策和立法都出现了一些新动向。