2010 Juvenile Arrestee Drug Use in the San Diego Region

Transcription

1 bulletin CJ Criminal Justice Research Division, SANDAG 2010 Juvenile Arrestee Drug Use in the San Diego Region July 2011 Cynthia Burke, Ph.D., Division Director 401 B Street Suite 800 San Diego, CA (619) A SANDAG CJ BULLETIN

2 Between 1987 and 2004, SANDAG completed interviews with local arrestees regarding their drug use histories as part of the federally-funded Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program. In comparison to other interview and survey efforts with households and juveniles across the country (e.g., National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Youth Risk Behavior Survey), the ADAM program was unique in that it included an objective measure of recent drug use (i.e., urinalysis), in addition to collecting self-reported information. When the juvenile component of the ADAM program was discontinued in 2003 (one year before the entire program ended), local funding was secured, which enabled this important data collection effort to continue in San Diego County as the Substance Abuse Monitoring (SAM) program 1. In 2010, SAM was supported by the California Border Alliance Group (CBAG) and the County of San Diego. Their support, as well as funding from SANDAG member agencies through the Criminal Justice Clearinghouse and the cooperation of the San Diego County Probation Department, which is necessary to conduct these interviews, is gratefully acknowledged. This CJ Bulletin, 2010 Juvenile Arrestee Drug Use in the San Diego Region, is the first in a series presenting data collected (from both juveniles and adults) in the 2010 calendar year and now includes eleven years of data. As part of this study, a total of 136 youth were interviewed at Juvenile Hall during two separate months in Ninety-six percent (96%) or 131 of these youth provided a urine sample for drug testing purposes (103 males and 28 females). This research bulletin includes the results of urinalysis trends over time, as well as information pertaining to lifetime and recent self-reported drug use, perceived risk and availability of different drugs, and characteristics of the youth that were interviewed and how these factors may be related to drug use. In addition, all of the data (percentages and raw numbers) captured through the juvenile interviews and urinalyses for 2004 through 2010 are available online at For questions regarding the project methodology or data set, please contact SANDAG s Criminal Justice Research Division at (619) In 2007, a new scaled-back Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program, ADAM II, was launched by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in ten sites across the country with adult male, but not juvenile or adult female arrestees. For more information on this new effort, please visit

3 Percent Positive C J B U L L E T I N J U V E N I L E A R R E S T E E D R U G U S E I N T H E S A N D I E G O R E G I O N J U L Y Since 2000, about half of juveniles interviewed as part of SAM have tested positive for at least one drug, with the most commonly used illicit drug being marijuana. As Figure 1 shows, in 2010, 50 percent tested positive for any substance, 43 percent for marijuana, and 8 percent for methamphetamine (meth). Compared to 2009, the percent positive for marijuana decreased, while the percent positive for meth slightly increased. In addition, 2 percent of the youth tested positive for cocaine, 5 percent for opiates (up from 1% in 2009), and 8 percent tested positive for multiple illicit drugs in Juvenile males were significantly more likely than the juvenile females to test positive for any drug (58% versus 18%), which was related to their recent use of marijuana (51% of males positive for marijuana, compared to 11% of females) (not shown). NOTES: Cases with missing information not included. Any drug includes marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates, and PCP.

4 In addition to providing a urine sample, youth are asked a series of questions regarding their experiences using alcohol, tobacco, and other substances. As Figure 2 shows, 96 percent of the youth reported that they had tried at least one drug in their lifetime (including tobacco and alcohol) and 88 percent used at least one substance in the past year, 82 percent in the past 30 days, and 67 percent in the previous three days. Of the 126 youth who reported ever trying one of the substances listed in Table 1, the average (mean) number tried was 4.8 (range 1 to 13) (not shown). NOTE: Cases with missing information not included. In terms of which substances they had ever and recently used, almost four in five or more of juveniles in 2010 reported trying alcohol, marijuana, or tobacco previously (starting before the age of 13 years old, on average) and over half (51% to 62%) had used each of these substances during the past 30 days (Table 1). Between 2 and 40 percent of the youth also reported ever trying other substances, including ecstasy, powder cocaine, inhalants, meth 2, mushrooms, Oxycontin, crack, LSD, heroin, Rohypnol, and GHB. Youth were also asked about binge drinking (consuming five or more drinks on one occasion), with almost three-quarters (73%) reporting this behavior. Alcohol and marijuana were among the substances used by the greatest proportion of youth recently (within the last month), consistent with information from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 3. Just over two in five (44%) reported ever having tried a drug known to cause hallucinations (ecstasy, mushrooms, or LSD), with almost one in five (19%) saying they had tried more than one (not shown). 2 While there was no gender difference in recent meth use, as measured by a positive urinalysis result, girls were significantly more likely to report ever having tried meth (39%), compared to males (17%). This was the only significant gender difference in self-reported drug use. 3 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2010). Results from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD: Author.

5 NOTES: Cases with missing information not included. Binge alcohol defined as five or more drinks on one occasion. Gateway drug is a term used to refer to a substance (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana) whose use is thought to precede and possibly lead to the use of and dependence on harder drugs. When asked to describe what substance they had first used, almost all (98%) reported a gateway drug, including alcohol (39%), tobacco (18%), and marijuana (40%) (Figure 3). The other drugs included cocaine (1) and inhalants (2). When asked who they were with when they first used this substance, 63 percent said a friend, 10 percent a sibling, 7 percent another relative, 6 percent a parent, 2 percent another adult, 2 percent some other person, and 13 percent said they were alone (not shown).

6 NOTE: Cases with missing information not included. Additional analyses regarding patterns of gateway drug use also revealed that most youth had used all three, rather than just one or two of these substances. As Table 2 shows, of the 126 youth who had ever tried a gateway drug, about three-quarters (76%) had tried all three.

7 NOTE: Percentages do not equal 100 due to rounding. Figure 4 shows the proportion of youth who used one or more of the harder drugs. As this graph shows, over two-thirds reported ever using more than just one of these four substances (meth, powder cocaine, mushrooms, or ecstasy), rather than just one. This pattern speaks to the severity of addiction for some of these youth and supports the need for effective treatment for this population. NOTE: Harder drugs include methamphetamine, powder cocaine, mushrooms, and ecstasy.

8 According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy ( prescription drug abuse ranks second only behind marijuana as the nation s most prevalent illegal drug problem. For this project, in 2010, 36 percent of the youth reported ever using prescription (31%) and/or over-the-counter medication (23%) illegally (not shown). These percentages are considerably higher than those reported for youth between the ages of 12 and 17 in the general population according to the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health 3, where 3 percent reported any lifetime abuse. Consistent with national data, the most commonly abused prescription drug type was painkillers (which includes Vicodin, Oxycontin, codeine, Percocet, Demerol, and fentanyl) (95%) (not shown), followed by tranquilizers (e.g., Xanax, Valium, Rochas) (46%) (Table 3). When these youth were asked how they had obtained these substances without a prescription, the most common response (85%) was that they had received or bought it from someone else, with others reporting they had stolen it from someone (18%), taken it from a pharmacy (8%), or had used a fake prescription (3%). When asked how difficult it was to obtain these substances, 28 percent said very easy, 43 percent easy, and 30 percent difficult (not shown). In terms of over-the-counter drugs, 77 percent described abusing Coricidin (also referred to as DXM, skittles, or Triple C) and 70 percent liquid cold medicines. In a new question added in 2010, the nine individuals who reported they had ever tried heroin were asked if they were hooked on prescription-type opiates before they began using heroin. Three of the nine youth answered this question affirmatively, with all reporting using more than one opiate, including Oxycontin (3), fentanyl (2), Percocet (2), morphine (2), Vicodin (1), Demerol (1), and Methadone (1) (not shown).

9 In addition, those youth who reported abusing prescription or over-the-counter medication were significantly more likely to have tried the gateway drugs, as well as other substances, as Table 4 shows. *Significant at p <.05. NOTE: Cases with missing information not included. For several years, prevention messages have targeted parents about the need to have candid conversations with their children regarding the risks associated with drug use (e.g., However, when these youth were asked to describe their main source of information regarding drugs, only around one in ten (11%) said parents, with others saying friends (38%), school (22%), media outlets (television, movies, or the Internet) (14%), other individuals/ institutions (8%), and personal experience (8%) (Figure 5).

10 NOTES: Cases with missing information not included. Youth were also asked to rate (on a four-point scale) how bad they think different types of drugs are, regardless of their past use of the drug. As Table 5 shows, those who had used LSD, Oxycontin, ecstasy, mushrooms, and marijuana were significantly less likely to report thinking the drug was extremely or very bad for them compared to those who had never used the drug. It is also worth noting that a higher percentage of users think tobacco use has potential negative health repercussions compared to marijuana use, also consistent with data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 3.

11 *Significant at p <.05. NOTE: Cases with missing information not included. In another series of questions, individuals who had ever used the drug were asked to rate how easy the drug is to obtain, again on a four-point scale. As Table 6 shows, around three-quarters or more of these individuals reported that marijuana, inhalants, tobacco, alcohol, heroin, ecstasy, and meth were very easy or easy to obtain. In 2010, more youth perceived marijuana (92% in 2010 versus 76% in 2009), meth (75% versus 59%), heroin (78% versus 57%), and powder cocaine (66% versus 50%) as very easy or easy to obtain (not shown).

12 NOTE: Cases with missing information not included. Youth who had tried alcohol were asked how they had obtained it the last time they used it. Just over half said it was given to them (34% by someone over 21 years of age other than a parent/guardian, 21% by someone under 21, and 3% by a parent/guardian), around onefifth (18%) had someone else buy it for them, more than one in ten said they had taken it (8% from a store, 3% from someone else s home, and 3% from their own home), and 8 percent bought it themselves. Three percent (3%) said they obtained it other ways (not shown). Almost one in three (29%) juveniles interviewed in 2010 reported that they had previously received some type of drug treatment. When these 38 youth were asked for more details regarding this prior treatment, their responses revealed that: 42 percent had been in treatment once, 21 percent twice, and 37 percent three or more times; the treatment was more likely to be court-ordered (66%) than voluntary (34%); 29 percent had attended in-patient treatment, 32 percent out-patient treatment, 24 percent Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous (NA/AA), and 16 percent received treatment while in custody; 68 percent had received treatment for marijuana, 50 percent for alcohol, 24 percent each for meth and other substances, 13 percent for cocaine/crack, 8 percent for heroin; and 53 percent reported that they had successfully completed treatment 4 (not shown). 4 Some of the reasons for not completing treatment included that they had been kicked out, they had been arrested, they were still in, they wanted to use, and the program was too strict.

13 When asked if they currently need treatment, only 18 percent responded affirmatively (not shown). However, this desire varied by prior treatment history, with noncompleters most likely to report needing it (50%), followed by those who had completed treatment (40%), and those who had no prior treatment history (8%) (Figure 6). Of the 24 individuals who felt they needed treatment, 58 percent wanted it for their marijuana use, 50 percent for alcohol use, 29 percent for meth use, 13 percent for tobacco use, and 8 percent for heroin use (not shown). The SAM interview is conducted at Juvenile Hall with youth who were arrested within the previous 48 hours. Overall, three-quarters of the youth had either an other offense (49%) (which includes probation violations) or a violent offense (26%) as their most serious arrest charge. The remaining youth were arrested for a highest charge that was a property offense (11%), a status offense (such as truancy or a curfew violation) (8%), or a drug offense (5%) (not shown). About two-thirds (68%) of the youth reported they had been arrested previously (the median number of prior arrests was 3.0 and the range was 1 to 20) and

14 almost two-thirds (62%) said they had previously been detained at a juvenile facility. Juvenile males were significantly more likely to have been arrested (74%) and been detained (67%), compared to females (46% and 43%, respectively) (not shown). Seventy-nine percent (79%) of the youth also reported previously committing a property-related offense, whether or not they were arrested for it. When further queried as to the nature of this/these offense(s), 85 percent of the 104 said they had shoplifted, 61 percent committed vandalism, 37 percent burglary, 21 percent motor vehicle theft, and 8 percent forgery (not shown). Despite the fact that few (about 1 in 20) youth were arrested for a drug-related offense as the highest charge, over two in five (43%) reported that they had some previous involvement in drug distribution either selling drugs (16%), serving as a middleman (5%), or both (22%). When asked what drug(s) were involved, 93 percent of the 56 youth said marijuana, 43 percent ecstasy, 20 percent powder cocaine, 16 percent meth, 13 percent crack, 13 percent Oxycontin, 7 percent heroin, and 5 percent LSD. When asked how much they made from these activities in the past 30 days, the median was $150 (range $2 to $5,000) (not shown). other priorities, and they just did not want to (not shown). Additional information about juvenile gang involvement is compiled for this project through a gang addendum. Data from this addendum through 2009 is available on the SANDAG Web site and updated information will be published later this year as part of the SAM CJ Bulletin series. A question added to the interview in 2009 asked if juveniles had been approached by someone offering to pimp or prostitute them and if so, where this happened. Five percent (5%) responded affirmatively. These five girls and one boy were approached on the street (4), at a mall (1), or at a motel (1) (not shown). Five of the youth interviewed (3 boys and 2 girls) reported ever engaging in prostitution, four of whom had done so in the past 30 days. Of these four youth, one male and one female said they were interested in stopping. On average, these youth began to engage in this activity at an average age of 14.4 (range 13 to 15). Eight of the youth also reported engaging in pimping, three of whom had also engaged in prostitution (2 boys and 1 girl) (not shown). Sixteen percent (16%) of the youth interviewed as part of this study reported they had been in a gang and another 25 percent indicated they had hung out with a gang. On average, these individuals had been in the gang for 4.1 years (range 4 months to 15 years). Youth who reported being gang members were significantly more likely to report bringing a weapon to school in the past (55% versus 15%) and selling drugs (70% versus 31%) (not shown). In a new question added in 2010, youth who said they were not in a gang were asked do you feel you will ever be in a gang and almost all (95%) said they would not. When these 87 youth were asked why they would not join a gang, 43 percent said it made it more likely they would get in trouble, 31 percent said it was dangerous, and 3 percent said that their friends would think less of them. In addition, almost half (47%) gave other reasons not listed as response choices, including it was pointless, it did not fit their image, they had Overall, most of the youth interviewed reported living in a stable residence, but some lived in a group setting or other arrangement without a biological parent. Specifically, prior to arrest, 89 percent reported living in a stable residence, 7 percent said they lived in some type of group setting, and 4 percent said they were homeless. When asked who they lived with, nearly three-fourths (71%) said their mother; 26 percent their father; and around one in five (22%) said they did not live with a parent at all. Other information regarding the youths lives included: when asked to rate the quality of their relationship with their parents, 40 percent said excellent or very good, 36 percent said good, and 24 percent said not very good or very bad;

15 when asked who they would turn to when they needed someone, 56 percent said a parent, 15 percent a friend (including a girlfriend or boyfriend), 13 percent another adult or someone else, 13 percent a youth relative, and 3 percent said no one; 70 percent reported they lived with at least one sibling; one-third (33%) said that their immediate family had some type of previous Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement; 18 percent had been in foster care at some time in their life; 9 percent said they were already a parent themselves and 9 percent of the boys said their girlfriend was pregnant; and 53 percent of the youth reported a sibling and 58 percent said a parent had been previously arrested and booked into a detention facility (not shown). When asked if they knew if their parents had abused alcohol or used other drugs, 15 percent said their parents had abused alcohol, 12 percent used other drugs, and 22 percent both (51% said their parents had not abused either alcohol and/or other drugs) 5. When asked what (drugs) they used, the most common responses included marijuana (78%), meth (48%), cocaine/crack (38%), and heroin (10%) (not shown). As Table 7 shows, youth who reported parental usage of drugs and/or abuse of alcohol were significantly more likely to have ever tried meth, powder cocaine, and mushrooms themselves. While the exact nature of this relationship cannot be determined from these data alone (e.g., genetic versus environmental influences, type of environmental influences), it is clear that in many households, a cycle of substance use exists that needs to be addressed before additional generations are also affected. 5 According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 12 percent of children in the general population live with at least one parent who abused or was dependent on alcohol or other drugs in the past year (CESAR Fax [2009, May]. More Than One in Ten Children in the U.S. Live with a Substance-Abusing or Substance Dependent Parent, 18, 18. Available:

16 *Significant at p <.05. NOTE: Cases with missing information not included. In addition to youth being exposed to parental substance use and criminal justice system contact, it also appears that many of the youth interviewed have run away. Specifically, 59 percent of the youth reported they had previously run away from home (with girls significantly more likely to report running away than boys, 79% versus 53%). Youth who reported previously running away were also significantly more likely to report having parents who abused alcohol or drugs (59% versus 33%); and ever using marijuana (97% versus 78%), alcohol (97% versus 83%), tobacco (91% versus 61%), ecstasy (52% versus 22%), mushrooms (30% versus 11%), powder cocaine (39% versus 17%), and meth (31% versus 9%) (Table 8). This relationship (between running away and substance use) has implications that include the need to assess the backgrounds of those youth at greatest risk of substance use and not merely criminalize the running away behavior without addressing the underlying causes.

17 *Significant at p <.05. NOTE: Cases with missing information not included. While only 8 percent of the youth reported that they had ever used illicit drugs with their parents, 47 percent reported that they had used drugs at home previously (with 55% of the 55 youth acknowledging a parent or caregiver was at home when this substance use occurred and 33% that the caregiver was aware of this use). Twenty-two percent (22%) reported keeping drugs at home (not shown). Just over one in five youth (22%) reported they had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Those youth with an ADD or ADHD diagnosis were significantly more likely to report having tried meth compared to others (41% versus 17%). Sixty-nine percent (69%) of these 29 youth reported they had been prescribed Ritalin or Adderall, two of whom had also given or sold the drug to someone else (not shown). One in ten (10%) youth reported they had previously thought about killing themselves and eight of these individuals had previously made a suicide attempt (not shown).

18 22 percent had an Individualized Education Program (IEP); Overall, 90 percent of the 2010 sample reported they had previously skipped school or been truant 6 and one in four (25%) were not currently enrolled in school because of an expulsion, suspension, or dropping out on their own. Other information related to school included: 72 percent reported they do not like school; 42 percent had been referred to the School Attendance Review Board (SARB); 21 percent have brought a weapon to school (25% of boys and 4% of girls, a significant difference), most often a knife; The median GPA was 2.5 (range.0 to 4.0); and 17 percent had been bullied at school and/or before or after school while on or near school grounds and 11 percent had been bullied over the Internet or through phone messages (not shown). As Table 10 shows, while most of the youth were truant, there were still significant differences in substance use histories, with those reporting prior truancy more likely to have tried tobacco, marijuana, powder cocaine, and ecstasy. 6 The average (median) number of days truant of those who were truant in the previous month was 5.0 (range 1 to 20).

19 *Significant at p <.05. Source: SANDAG SAM Program, 2010 One in four (25%) of the youth reported current participation in pro-social extracurricular activities. When these 33 youth were asked to describe the type of activity they were involved in, 48 percent said a sport, 42 percent a church-sponsored activity (including regular attendance), 6 percent a school club, and 12 percent an artistic endeavor. Twelve percent (12%) of the youth also reported having a job (parttime for 53% of these youth, 20% odd jobs, and 27% full-time) (not shown). At the end of the interview, youth were asked if they had participated in any types of specific risky behaviors in the past 12 months. As Table 11 shows, around one-third or more reported they had engaged in a number of these behaviors, with the most common including getting sick from alcohol/drugs, getting in trouble with parents for using alcohol/drugs, riding in a car with a driver under the influence, participating in sex acts 7, feeling bad about something done when drunk/high, and not remembering what happened after using alcohol/drugs. 7 Thirty-seven percent (37%) of the youth reported they always use a condom when engaging in sexual activities while drunk or high, 21 percent said most of the time, 23 percent some of the time, and 19 percent said never.

20 NOTE: Cases with missing information not included. In a new series of questions added in 2010, youth were asked about whether certain traumatic events had happened to them in the past year. Just over one in three (35%) reported that one had occurred and 6 percent that more than one had occurred. These events included being expelled (22% of all respondents), the death of a relative (17%), being involved in an accident (5%), and the divorce of their parents (3%). Additional analyses revealed that those who reported experiencing one or more of these events were significantly more likely to report previous marijuana use (55%), compared to those who had not had similar recent life experiences (35%) (not shown). In another series of questions, youth were asked if they had ever crossed the U.S./Mexico border to obtain alcohol or other drugs. Overall, 8 percent (13) of the youth said they had, with 9 crossing for just alcohol, 2 for just drugs, and 2 for both types of substances. In addition, in a new question added in 2010, around one in ten (11%) reported they had previously been approached regarding transporting drugs across the border. The median age of first crossing was 14.0 (range 12 to 17) for alcohol and 14.5 (range 13 to 15) for other drugs and those who crossed for drugs reported obtaining marijuana (3), meth (2), prescription medication illegally (1), crack (1), powder cocaine (1), heroin (1), and Oxycontin (1) (not shown).

21 Additional descriptive information regarding this sample of 131 youth follows. The average age of these youth was 15.8 years (range 12 to 18). 56 percent of the youth were Hispanic, 23 percent White, 19 percent Black, and 2 percent other. 74 percent of the youth reported they were born in San Diego County, 15 percent somewhere else in California, 7 percent in another state, and 5 percent in another country. 31 percent reported currently living in the Central Major Statistical Area (MSA) 8 of San Diego County, 16 percent in East Suburban, 7 percent in North County West, 15 percent in North County East, 18 percent in South Suburban, 8 percent in North City, 3 percent in East County, and 4 percent outside of San Diego County. As the data here describe, youth booked into Juvenile Hall continue to face a number of risk factors that require communities and systems of care to work together. Some of the risks described here include both gateway and other drug use at relatively early ages; poly-drug use; negative peer groups, including gang involvement; challenging home environments with individuals who also use drugs and have had contact with the justice system; and truancy. These data offer program and policy leaders support for continued prevention and targeted intervention services at a time when resources are limited. Specific areas of prevention and intervention focus could include ensuring treatment availability that is familybased; education for parents regarding the importance of prevention; coordination with educational units to address truancy, as well as facilitate prevention messages; and continued support of pro-social activities. 8 MSAs are groups of subregional areas (SRAs) which, in turn, are groups of census tracts. The seven MSAs encompass the entire San Diego region, with boundaries remaining static over time. For a map of these areas, please see ds/images/msa90.html.