U.S. Department of Justice 

Bureau of Justice Statistics 

Prisoners and Drugs 

Almost a third of all State prisoners in 

1979 were under the influence of an illegal 

drug when they committed the{rimes for 

which they were incarcerated. More 

than half had taken drugs during the 

month just prior to the crime. More than 

three-fourths had used drugs at some time 

during their lives, but only one-fourth of 

the drug users had ever been in a drug 

treatment program. 

Information on the extent to Which 

prison inmates had used drugs was obtained from the 1979 Survey of Inmates of 

State Corl'ectional Facilities. 2 Inmates 

were asked about their experience with 

eight sp~cific substances: heroin, methadone (outside of a treatment program), 

~ cocaine, marijuana or hashish, amphetI '\ amines, barbiturateb, and LSD and PCP. ..., They were also asked if they had ever used l'\. any other drugs without a doctor's 

~ prescription. 

Drug measurement 

This report focuses on three measures 

of drug use-lifetime use, use in the month 

prior to the crime for which the inmate 

was sent to prison, and use at the time of 

that crime. 

Ur-like alcohol, whose various forms 

can be reduced to the common denominator of ethanol, the potency of drugs and 

their effect on the user varies not only 

among ;rugs but also according to their 

purity. Because of this, no attempt was 

made to determine how much of each drug 

had been used on anyone occasion or the 

extent to which the user was affected by 

it. Instead, inmates were asked a series of 

questions about each drug beginning with 

IThe terms "d'ug,""i(Iegal drug," and "substance" are used interchangeably in this report and inel ude 

prescrlpti9n drugs obtained or used illegally as well 

as controlled substances. 

2The survey consisted of personal interviews with a stratified random sample of 12,000 inmates in State 

prisons across the Nation. It was conducted for the 

Bureau of Justice Statistics by the Bureau of the 

Census. 

3For a discussion of alcohol use among prison 

Inmates see the Bureau of Justice Statistics bulletin 

"Prisoners and Alcohol," January 1983. 

This is the fourth in a series of 

bulletins based on the 1979 Survey of 

Inmates of State Correctional Facilities. A bulletin on criminal careers 

will be published shortly, and other 

topics in the survey will be the 

subject of future bulletins. Public)-

use computer-readable data tapes 

for both the survey and the 

companion 1979 Census of State 

whether they had ever used it and ending 

with whether they were under its 

influence at the time of the crime for 

which they were imprisoned. This order, 

March 1983 

Correctional Facilities are available 

from the Criminal Justice Archives 

and Information Network of the 

Inter-university Consortium for 

Politic'.J. and Social Research. 

Further information can be obtained 

by writing CJAIN, P.O. Box 1248, 

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. 

Steven R. Sc;Jlesinger 

Acting Director, BJS 

moving from general use to use at the 

time of the crime, was adopted to 

minimize attempts by inmates to cite 

drugs as the reason for their crimes. 

Table 1. United States population age 18 and over and Stat!: prison inmates, 

by percent using each type of drug I 

Under influence at Ever used Recent use 2 time of crime: 

Inmates General Inmates General inmates 

Total 100r. 100r. 100% 100% lOU% 

No drug 22 603 44 803 67 

Any drug 78 40 3 56 2U 3 33 

Heroin 30 2 12 (z) 9 

Methadone 9 1 2 (z) 1 

Cocaine 37 14 13 4 5 

Marijuana 75 39 41l 18 17 

Marij uana only 21 22 23 NA 8 

Amphe tamines 37 9 10 1 5 

Barbiturates 35 6 10 (z) 6 

lIallucinogens4 30 13 6 2 4 

NOTE: The sum of percents for individual 2"Recent" refers to the ,"onth prior 

drug use exceeds the percent using "any to the crime committed fo~ inmates and 

drug" because many pe rsons used mo re than the month prior to the survey for the 

one. "Any drug" includes miscellaneous general population. 

drugs not shown separately because com- 3Figure is based on a 1982 NIDA findparable statistics were not available for ing that the total number of drug users the inmates and the general population. is slightly higher than that for 

NA Not available. marijuana. 

Z Less than 0.5 percent. 4For the inmate population, halluIStat istics for the general population cinogens include LSD and PCP only; for are from National Survey.£!!. Drug Abuse: the general population, hallucinogens 

Main Findings, 1979, National Institute include some additional drugs, which on Drug Abuse (NTDA). represent a very small proportion of 

total drug use. 

1 

I 

J 
r • .. ~ .. -:. ~ • •• _ .' ~ • .... 4" 

Lifetime drug use of inmates 

Percent of inmates 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

Number of types of drugs used 

Figure 1 

Validity of the findings depends 

entirely on the truthfulness of the 

inmates. Each inmate was promised 

the comp]fte coniidentiality of his • esponse. Nevertheless, one would 

expect that an inmate would be more 

likely to deny past use of an illegal 

substance than to report a use that did not 

occur. Therefore, the extent of drug use reported in the survey, if anything, is 

understated. 

Drug use 

Marijuana was by far the drug most 

commonly used by the inmates. Threequarters had used it at some time in their 

lives, roughly the same proportion as had 

used any illegal drugs (table 1). Therefore 

almost all inmates who had used only one 

drug had used marijuana and almost all 

inmates who had used other drugs had also 

used marijuana. 

Drug experts find this to be a characteristic of the general population as well; 

the total number of drug users is only 

slightly larger than the total number of 

marijuana users (table 1). 

One-fifth of the inmate population had never used any drugs and one-fifth had 

used only marijuana. At the other 

extreme, one-fifth had used six or more different megal drugs (figure 1). 

With the exception of marijuana (and 

of methadone, used by only 9% of the 

inmates), there was little variation in drug 

abuse (table 1). Heroin, cocaine, 

amphetamines, barbiturates, and 

hallucinogens (LSD and PCP) had each 

been used by a third of the inmates. 

Compared to lifetime use, recent use by inmates (defined as use during the 

month before the crimes that brought 

"The cc nfldentiallty of Information collected by the 

U.S. Cetlsus Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics Is prl.tected by Title 13, USC and 42 USC 

3789(9). 

Lifetime drug use of U.S. population 

and State prison inmates: I8-25-year-olds 

Percent 

100 

80 

80 

40 

20 

o 

Marijuana Amphetamines Barbiturates 

Prisoners •.= ____ • --1 I General population 

Cocaine HallUCinogens Heroin Methadone 

Note: Statistics for general population are from 1979 survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Age for inmates is at time of admission to prison; 83% of the inmates were admitted in 1976 or later. Age for general population is at time of survey. 

Agure 2 

them to prison) was substantially lower for 

all drugs. The number of inmates who 

used nothing but marijuana during that 

month is the same as the number who had never used anything but mal'ijuana, onefifth of all inmates. Given the wide use of 

marijuana, these are not necessarily the 

same people. 

Inmates and others 

Inmates were about twice as likely as the public at large to have used drugs. 

Nonetheless, the proportion who had used 

only marijuana was the same for both 

groups-one-fifth. Consequently, persons 

who had used only marijuana accounted 

for half of all the drug users in the general 

population but only one-fourth of all the 

inmate users. 

Recent drug use for U. S. population 

and State prison inma£cs: 18-25-year-olds 

Percent 

100 

80 

60 

40 

20 

o 

Amphetamines Barbllurates 

For all other drugs, use by the general 

population was substantially below that of 

the inmates. The greatest difference was 

for heroin, used by only 2% of the public 

at large but by one-third of the inmates. 

Aside from marijuana, the most popular 

drugs among the general population were cocaine and hallucinogens, each used by 

one of every seven people. 

Recent drug use for the general population (defined as during the month before 

they were surveyed) was also substantially 

lower than for the inmates. Almost threefourths of the inmate drug users had used 

drugs recently compared to only one-half 

the drug users in the general population. 

In the public at large, almost all recent 

drug users had used marijuana. One-fifth 

had used cocaine, and one-tenth, halluciPrisoners -=:=J Generat populallon 

Cocaine Hallucinogens Heroin Methadone 

Note: "Recent" refers to the month prior to the crime for in1,ates and to the month prior 

to th71979 NIDA survey for the general population. Age for inmates is at the time of admissjon 

to prison; 83% of the inmates were admitted in 1976 or later. Age for the general population Is at the time of the survey. 

• • • Less than 0.5 percent 

Figure 3 

2 

nogens. Use of the other drugs was minor, 

involving one percent or less of the population. 

Drug trends 

Drug eX(:clrts generally agree that 

there are popular trends in drug use. A 

drug quite popular at one time may be less 

so at another. For example, it is generally 

acknowledged that cocaine-the most 

expensive of all drugs-is growing in 

popularity while there are some signs that 

use of hallucinogens may be on the decline. Consequently, current profiles of 

lifetime drug use may vary somewhat 

from those that existed for prison inmates 

and the general population at the time 

they were surveyed. 

Lifetime drug use 

Lifetime drug use is a constant for an 

individual once he has become a drug 

user. For example, a person who first uses 

heroin at age 20 will be "a person who has 

used heroin" for the rest of his life regardless of whether he ever uses it again. It is 

also true that the older a person becomes 

without using illegal drugs, the less likely 

he is to start. 

Both these factors come into play 

when comparing lifetime drug use for 

persons in different age groups. Many 

people alive now were past the prime 

years for first drug use when drug use 

became widespread during the sixties. 

Because of this, lifetime drug use in 1979 was substantially greater for persons age 

18-25 years old than for persons age 26 or 

older (table 2). As those who were age 18-

25 in 1979 continue to move through the 

life cycle, this relationship between older 

and younger users is not likely to hold. 

Even in 1979 this relationship was not 

as strong for State prison inmates. The 

difference in lifetime use between 18-25-

year-olds and inmates age 26 and older 

was small for most drugs and the older 

inmates were slightly more likely ts> have 

used heroin than the younger ones. 

Young users 

When only the 18-25-year-oldll are 

considered, the difference in lifetime use 

for prison inmates and the general population is diminished, although the inmates 

still had a higher rate of use for every 

drug than did young people in general 

(figure 2). The proportional difference is 

the least for marijuana, w.tich had been 

used by 7 of every 8 inmates and 2 nf 

every 3 noninmates. 

For 18-25-year-olds, the difference 

between inmates and others in recent drug 

use are proportionately greater than the 

differences in lifetime drug use, the same 

relationship that held when all ages were considered. Again, drug use by young 

5The age of Inmates is their age at admission to 

prison; over 80% were admitted after 1975. 

Table 2. Drug habits of inmates, by selected characteristics 

Percent 

Anz drull Heroin Cocaine Marijuana 

Ever 

Characteristic Number used 

Total 274,564 78% 

Sex 

Male 263,484 78 

Female 11,080 67 

Age at admission 

Under 18 6,412 82 

18-25 139,251 87 

26-34 81,533 79 

35 and over 46,501 46 

Race 

White 136,296 78 

Black 131,329 77 

American Indian1 5,440 79 

Other2 1,499 75 

Ethnicity 

Hispanic 25,816 83 

Non-Hiseanic 248,748 77 

Marital status Married 61,420 73 

Widowed 6,248 47 

Divorced 46,314 70 

Separated 18,169 73 

Never married 142,414 84 

Education at admission 

Not high school graduate 196,047 77 

High school graduate 50,359 80 

AnX COllege 28,158 78 

Employment in month prior 

to current offense 

Employed full-time 165,577 74 

Employed part-time 27,223 80 

Not employed, 

seeking job 38,230 86 

Not employed, 

not seeking job 42,433 83 

Income in year p rio r 

to current offense3 

Total 128,011 78 

None 2,218 75 

Les s than $3,000 35,503 79 

$3,000-9,999 48,511 78 

$10,000 and over 41,779 78 

Offense 

Violent 157,742 73 

Homicide 48,041 64 

Assault 17,216 73 

Rape 16,460 64 

RobLery 68,324 86 

Other violent 7,701 79 

Property 85,562 80 

Burglary 49,223 85 

Forgery or fraud 11,50S 69 

Larceny 13,018 78 

Other property 11,815 75 

Drugs 19,420 92 

Public orde r 10,982 69 

NOTE: Numerical detail for a particular 

characteristic may not add to the total 

due to non-responses, which in no case exceed 0.4%. "Recent" refers to the 

month prior to the crime committed. 

inmates exceeded that of young people in 

general for ~very substance and again the 

proportional difference was least for 

marijuana (figure 3). 

User characteristics 

Male inmates were somewhat more 

likely than female inmates to have used 

some form of drugs and to have used them 

recently (table 2). These differences were not large and disappeared entirely for 

3 

Recent Ever Recent Ever Recent Ever Recent 

use used use used use used use 

56% 307. 12% 37% 12% 75% 48% 

56 30 12 37 13 76 48 

47 38 18 36 12 62 32 

66 15 7 2!l 12 81 62 

67 28 12 41 15 86 60 

53 40 15 42 13 76 43 

25 21 9 20 5 41 16 

57 30 11 40 13 76 49 

54 30 13 35 12 74 46 

49 21 5 35 8 77 44 

50 37 17 38 10 71 38 

59 l,8 27 36 11 78 44 

55 28 11 38 13 75 48 

49 32 13 35 11 69 41 

26 20 7 21 8 45 19 

47 29 11 35 10 68 38 

52 39 15 39 12 69 40 

63 29 12 39 14 82 56 

55 28 12 34 '2 74 47 

55 34 13 43 13 78 48 

56 34 13 48 18 76 47 

51 26 9 34 11 72 44 

58 26 11 35 13 77 50 

65 35 16 42 14 83 56 

66 44 22 48 18 80 53 

55 27 9 37 13 76 47 

54 24 13 28 9 74 48 

55 20 7 30 10 76 49 

52 26 9 35 11 76 45 

58 34 12 47 18 75 49 

53 27 11 34 11 73 45 

41 19 6 24 7 62 35 

47 22 8 28 7 70 41 

39 14 4 21 6 62 36 

66 38 18 45 16 84 56 

59 26 9 40 17 77 51 

58 30 11 39 13 78 50 

64 31 12 42 14 83 57 

45 29 11 35 12 64 34 

53 33 13 39 12 75 44 

51 23 6 33 9 73 47 

74 54 31 63 ,4 87 57 

42 22 5 28 9 67 39 

1Includes Eskimos and Aleuts. 

2Asians and Pacific Islanders. 

3To reduce the effect of inflation 

upon income figures, only inmates admitted to prison after 1977 are included. 

cocaine. Heroin use, as well as recent 

heroin use, was s0'llewhat more common among the women. 

Drug use varied little among racial and 

ethnic groups. American Indians were less 

likely than other racial groups to have 

6Women confined to local jails are also more likely 

to use heroin than male jail Inmates. See Prome of 

Jail Inmates: soclodemoraphic Findings from the 

1978 Survey of Inmates 0 Local Jails, Bureau of 

Justice Statistics, 1980. 
#4" 

Table 3. Lifetime and recent drug use, for inmates 

with and without illegal income 

Ever used Recent use l 

All 

With Without With Without :Lllegal Type o. :frog illegal All Hlegal illegal inmates2 il\come income inmates 2 income income 

Number 

Percent 274,564 27,380 198,579 274,564 27,380 198,579 100% 

No drug 22 Any drug 78 

Heroin 30 Methadone 9 Cocaine 37 Marijuana 75 Amphetamines 37 Barbiturates 35 LSD 24 PCP 19 Other 20 

NOTE: The sum of percents for individual drug use exceeds the percent 

using "any drug" because many persons 

used more than one. 

I"Recent" refers to the month prior 

used heroin, and blacks were less likely 

than whites to have ever used cocaine. 

Hispanics were substantially more likely 

than others to have used heroin and to 

have used it recently. 

Inmate use of illicit drugs peaked 

among those age 18-25, declined moderately for those age 26-34, and dropped off 

sharply among those age 35 years and 

older. Heroin use was greatest for those 

age 26-34. 

100% 100% 100Y. 100Y. 100Y. 

7 26 44 17 51 93 74 56 83 49 

56 24 12 28 9 21 7 2 4 1 70 30 13 29 9 91 71 48 70 112 59 31 10 20 8 58 29 10 19 8 43 20 4 9 3 35 15 5 10 4 41 15 6 12 4 

to the crime committed. 

2Includes inmates for Whom income 

information was not collected because 

they were not free for at least a year 

prior to present incarceration (48,605). 

during the year before their crimes were asked its sources. Twelve percent 

volunteered that they had income from 

illegal sources (table 3). 

Of all the data collected in the survey, 

this number must be the most suspect. 

illegal income usually represents both 

untaxed income and an illegal act, facts 

that can hardly be conducive to reporting, 

pledges of confidentiality notwithstandinp:. 

Nevertheless, differences between those 

who cited illegal income and those who did 

not wp.re striking. 

For heroin, methadone, cocaine, 

amphetamines, barbiturates, LSD, PCP, 

and miscellaneous other drugs, the use of 

each, whether over a lifetime or over the 

month before the crime, was at least 

twice as high for inmates who said they 

had illegal income than for those who did 

not. 

Use of more than one drug was also 

much higher for persons with illegal 

incomes. Over half of all persons with 

illegal income had used five or more drugs 

during their lives and 1 of every 12 had 

used five or more drugs in the month prior 

to the crime. The comparable figures for 

persons with only legal income are 1 of 

every 5 and 1 of every 50 (figure 4). 

User offenses 

As expected, inmates in prison for ."; 

crimes involving drugs were more likely 

than other inmates to have used drugs 

(table 2). Nine-tenths had lifetime drug use and three-fourths had used drugs 

recently. Inmates convicted of drug 

offenses were nearly twice as likely as other inmates to have used heroin and more than twice as likely to have used it 

recently. Their lifetime and recent use of ',., 

cocaine were both twice the rate for other 

inmates. 

About three-fifths of the drug users with drug offenses wel'e in prison for 

trafficking rather than possession or use. 

This was true for all drug users, recent 

drug users, and even those who were under 

the influence of drugs at the time of their 

crime. 

Although marijuana is by far the most 

commonly used drug-used at some time 

by three-fourths of the inmates, l'ecently 

by half the inmates, and at the time of the 

crime by one-sixth of the inmateS-less 

ths'l 1 % of the inmate popUlation was 

serving time for marijuana possession or use. 

After drug offenses, drug use was nel(t 

highest among robbers and burglars of 

whom more than four-fifths had used 

drugs at some point in their lives, and 

about two-thirds in the month before 

their crimes. Murderers and rapists had 

low drug-use rates. 

Education and marital status are strongly related to age. Patterns of drug use reflect this. For example, drug use was highest among the never married, in 

general a young group, and lowest among 

the widowed, typically older inmates. 

Inmates who have not graduated from high 

school cluster among the youngest inmates 

and the oldest inm ... tes, and their drug use patterns are a combination of those for 

both groups. Table 4. Inmates under the influence of drugs at the time of the crime, for selected drugs Inmates who had been employed either 

full- or part-time during the month prior 

to their crime were less likely than those 

not working to have ever used hl3roin and 

cocaine. They were even less likely to 

have used heroin and cocaine during that 

month. 

Inmate use of cocaine, at any time or recently, rises with income, reflecting its 

cost. The use of marijuana appears totally 

unrelated to income. Those who had no income and those who had high incomes were equally likely to have used heroin 

recently but those who had high incomes 

were the most likely to have ever used it. 

All inmates who reported some income 

Offense 

Total 

Violent 

Homicide 

Assault 

Rape 

Robbery 

Other violent 

Property 

Burglary 

Forgery or fraud 

Larceny 

Other property 

Drugs 

Public order 

NOTE: Numerical detail may not 

4 

All 

inmates 

274,564 

157,742 

48,041 

17,216 

16,460 

68,324 

7,701 

85,562 

49,223 

11 ,505 

13,018 

ll,815 

19,420 

10,982 

add to total due 

Tne of dru~ 

Any drug Heroin Cocaine Marijuana 

32Y. 9% 5% 17% 

30 8 4 16 21 4 2 11 27 5 2 13 22 2 2 15 38 II 6 20 34 6 6 19 35 8 5 20 40 8 5 24 25 8 4 11 3u 10 6 15 30 5 3 18 47 22 9 18 19 4 4 11, 

to non-responses (less than 0.5%). 
r 

r 

! 

I 

'I 

I 

j 

:~: 

II 1~ . 

\. I 

, 

11 i~ 1: ,!f 

~i " 

'it, 0 I,'" , ."'c I 

If 

~ ';':. 

IJl!I!f!IIi! 

Drugs and crime 

About a third of all inmates said that 

they were under the influence of drugs at 

the time of their C1ffense (table 4). About 

half of these were under the influence of 

marijuana. 

Half of all drug offenses were committed under the i.nfluence of drugs·-a fifth 

under the influence of heroin. A fourth of 

all burglaries and roughly a fifth each of 

all robberies and all drug offenses were committed under the influence of marijuana. One-eighth of all robberies and 

one-tenth of all larcenies were committed 

under the influence of heroin. Cocaine did 

not playa signific811t role in the commission of eny crimes. 

Criminal histories 

The more convictions inmates had on 

their records, the more likely they were to 

have taken drugs during the month prior to 

their offense (figure 4). Three-fifths of 

all inmates with five or more prior convictions had used drugs during the month 

prior to their crimes compared to just 

over two-fifths of those with no prior 

convictions. The recent use of heroin was also related to prior convictions. The 

proportion of inmates with five or more 

prior convictions who had used heroin in 

the month before their offense was 3 

times greater than the corresponding 

proportion for those with no prior convictions. 

The likelihood of having used more than one type of drug was also related to 

the number of prior convictions. 

One-sixth of the inmates with no priors 

had used five or more different substances; two-fifths of the inmates with 

five or more priors had used that many. 

Drug treatment programs 

Slightly more than a fourth of the 

213,000 inmates who used drugs at some 

Inmate use of drugs during 

month before current crime, 

by prior convictions 

Percent 

100 

80 

80 

40 

20 

Any illicit drug 

Cocaine _----

OL...... ___ .....L.. ____ -'--___ -' 

o 2-4 5+ 

Number of prior convictions 

Figure 4 

Table 5. Inmates' drug use and participation in drug treatment programs 

Percent ever in pro~rams Percent in 

Three programs Number of or at time of Characteristic drug users Total One Two more offense 

Ilver used: 

Any drug 213,131 

Daily 142,473 

Weekly 30,228 

Less than weeklz 40,430 

Heroin 81,792 

Daily 51,865 

Weekly 7,265 

Less than weeklz 22

1 662 

Cocaine 102,427 

Daily 26,958 

Weekly 14,986 

Less than weeklz 60,483 

Marijuana 205,941 

Daily 116,540 

Weekly 36,176 

Less than weeklz 

Recently used: 1 

53,225 

Any drug 152,391 

Daily 108,498 

Less than daily 43,893 

Heroin 33,425 

Daily 24,082 Le~3 than daily 9,343 

Cocaine 34,213 

Daily 13,546 

Less than dailz 20

1 667 

Marijuana 130,374 

Daily 85,861 

Less than dailz 44,513 

Under influence of drugs 

at time of offense2 

No 119,208 

Yes 88,580 

NOTE: "Any drug" includes herOin, cocaine, 

marijuana, and any other drug used. The sum of all drugs used exceeds the total 

("any drug") because many persons used more 

than or,e drug. Percent detail may not add 

to totals shown because of rounding. 

time during their lives had ever been 

enrolled in a drug treatment program 

(table 5). A higher enrollment rate-about a third-was found among recent drug 

users. The rate rose to two-fifths for 

inmates who said they were under the 

influence of drugs at the time they com- mitted their offense. 

The more frequently the inmates used 

drugs, the more likely it was that they had 

been in a treatment program. Slightly 

more than a third of those who had ever used drugs on a daily basis had been in a program, com parer! to less than one-tenth 

of those who had never used drugs daily. 

Among recent users, approximately twofifths of the daily users had been in drug 

treatment programs. 

Heroin users were the most likely to 

have been in drug treatment programs, 

probably because of the highly addictive 

nature of that subst811ce. About half of 

all lifetime heroin users had been in a treatment program, compared to about 

two-fifths of the cocaine users and 

one-fourth of the marijuana users. 

Drugs and alcohol 

It appears that illegal drug use is about 

5 

26% 17% 5% 3% 7% 

36 23 8 5 9 

10 9 1 0 2 

5 4 1 (Z) 2 

51 31 12 8 14 

63 35 16 12 18 

39 30 7 2 10 

27 21 4 2 6 

40 15 9 6 11 

46 28 11 7 11 

39 23 10 6 11 

38 25 7 6 11 

26 17 5 3 7 

32 21 6 4 8 

20 13 5 2 5 

17 11 /, 2 5 

31 21 6 4 8 

36 24 7 5 10 

19 13 4 2 5 

59 34 14 10 18 

62 . 35 16 12 19 

49 32 11 6 14 

40 25 9 7 11 

48 30 10 7 12 

36 22 8 6 10 

29 20 6 4 7 

32 22 6 4 8 

24 15 6 3 6 

18 13 4 2 4 

39 25 8 6 11 

Z Less than 0.5 percent. 

1 "Recently" refers to the month prior 

to the crime committed. 

2Approximately 3% of the drug users 

did not provide this information. 

as pervasive among inmates as alcohol. 

Precise comparisons, however, are not 

possible. For example, 22% of the inmate 

population had never used drugs, whereas 

17% of the inmate population had not used 

alcohol in the previous year. 

Half the inmate population had been 

drug users daily at some point in their 

lives and two-fifths had recently used 

drugs daily. Most of this daily use involved marijuana. Less than one-fifth 

had ever used heroin on a daily basis and . about one-tenth had used cocaine daily. In 

comparison, a third of the inmates drank 

daily during the year before their offense 

and tWDiTthirds of those drank very heavily. 

Persons whose offenses were drug 

related were the least likely to drink 

heavily during the year prior to their 

offense and among the most likely to 

abstain altogether. 

At the tiille of the offense, threefifths of those under the influence of 

7Heavy drinkers are thmiel who consume a minimum 

of 4 ounces of ethanol-the equivalent of a cans of 

beer, 7 4-ounce glasses of wine, and nearly 9 ounces of 82-proof liquor. 
r 

r 

-

drugs had also been drinking including 

two-fifths (or 12% of all inmates) who had 

been drinking very heavily. 

Murderers, rapists, and violators of the 

public order were the least likely to have 

lnen under the influence of drugs at the 

time of the offense; drug offenders and 

burglars the most likely (table 4). Rapists 

and assaulters were the most likely, 

forgers and larcenists the least likely, to 

have been drinking prior to the offense. 

Further reading 

To obtain other National Prisoner 

Statistics reports or to be added to the 

bulletin and/or corrections mailing lists, 

write to the National Criminal Justice 

Reference Service (301/251-5500), User 

Services Dept. 2, Box 6000, Rockville, Md. 

20850. Other NPS bulletins include-

• Jail Inmates 1982, 2/83, NCJ-87161 

• Prisoners and Alcohol, 1/83, NCJ-86223 

• Prisoners 1925-81, 12/82, NCJ-85861 

• Prisoners at Midyear 1982, 11/82, NCJ84875 

• Death-row Prisoners 1981, 7/82, NCJ83191 

• Prisons and Prisoners; 1/82, NCJ-80697 

• Veterans in Prison, 10/81, NCJ-79232 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Bureau of Justice Statistics 

Washington, D.C. 20531 

Bulletin 

.-- ~ ~-.~ ""- "-'~--~-~. ". ~ .• -,' ~~'.~"~'" ,,",~.~- ... ; '.,".-< .. +" ~'--.~' .-<>.-.">" ...... -,, .. ..-:-.~-. 

Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletins 

are prepared by the staff of the 

bureau. Carol B. Kalish, chief of 

policy analysis, edits the bulletins. 

Marilyn Marbrook, head of the 

bureau publications unit, administers 

their publication, assisted by Julie A. 

Ferguson. This bulletin was written 

by Ms. Kalish and Wilfred T. 

Masumura of the U.S. Bureau of the 

Census. 

March 1983, NCJ-87575 

Official Business 

Penalty for Private Use $300 

Ie ; 

Postage ,and Fees Paid 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Jus 436 

TIIIRD CLASS 

BULK RATE 

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U. .. MAiL -® 
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