Office of National Drug Control Policy

The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM II) 2010 Annual Report

The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM II) study is a Federal data collection program that conducts voluntary interviews and tests for drugs in adult male arrestees held in police booking facilities. Operating in ten U.S. counties (see map, page 2), ADAM II collects data within 48 hours of arrest, providing a window into drug use behavior among booked male arrestees that is not available when persons are detained or incarcerated for longer periods of time.

Key Findings

  • At the ten sites participating in the ADAM II study, more than half of booked male arrestees tested positive for one or more of ten illicit drugs.* Positive rates at the sites ranged from 52 percent in Washington, D.C., to 83 percent in Cook County, IL.
  • In six of the ten sites, there was a significant increase in the proportion of arrestees testing positive for at least one drug over the 2009 levels, and in two sites (Washington, D.C., and Denver County, CO) there was a significant decline in use.
  • Among arrestees who reported drug use in the previous 12 months:
    • Only 1.4 percent to 11.5 percent, depending on location, reported receiving outpatient drug or alcohol treatment in the past year.
    • 1.8 percent (Washington, D.C.) to 12.9 percent (Minneapolis, MN) reported receiving inpatient or residential substance abuse treatment in the past year.
    • 0.9 percent (Chicago, IL) to 4.8 percent (Minneapolis, MN) reported receiving inpatient mental health or psychiatric treatment.
  • Four of the ten ADAM cities (Charlotte, Indianapolis, Portland, and Sacramento) showed a significant increase in the percentage of arrestees testing positive for opiates in 2010, compared to 2008. Indianapolis and Portland also showed significant increases in oxycodone/hydrocodone positive rates.
  • The proportion of arrestees testing positive for cocaine declined significantly in all ten sites over the previous decade and in nine of the ten sites since 2007.
  • Methamphetamine rates remain highest in the western sites, with 33 percent (Sacramento County, CA) and 20 percent (Multnomah County, OR) of arrestees testing positive for the drug.

Participating Sites

Background

ADAM II is a continuation of the ADAM program that operated in 35 sites from 2000 to 2003 under the auspices of the National Institute of Justice. Since 2007, ADAM II has been sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The program will be continued through 2011.

Although not a national data set, ADAM II provides information on the local level that demonstrates regional variability in drug use patterns and which can be used by local authorities to inform decisions.

The ADAM II 2010 Annual Report is ONDCP’s fourth annual report for ADAM II, providing voluntary interview and urine test data collected from a probability-based sample in each of ten sites, totaling more than 4,700 arrestees from April 1 to September 30, 2010.

For an electronic copy of the ADAM II 2010 Annual Report, visit http://WhiteHouseDrugPolicy.gov.

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