DOI: 10.3886/icpsr07656.v1
title: New York Drug Law Evaluation Project, 1973
title: Version 1

description: This data collection contains the results of a study
 created in response to New York State's 1973 revision of its criminal
 laws relating to drug use. The Association of the Bar of the City of
 New York and the Drug Abuse Council jointly organized a joint
 committee and a research project to collect data, in a systematic
 fashion, (1) to ascertain the repercussions of the drug law revision,
 (2) to analyze, to the degree possible, why the law was revised, and
 (3) to identify any general principles or specific lessons that could
 be derived from the New York experience that could be helpful to other
 states as they dealt with the problem of illegal drug use and related
 crime. This data collection contains five files from the study. Part 1
 contains information gathered in a survey investigating the effects of
 the 1973 predicate felony provisions on crime committed by repeat
 offenders. Data include sex, age at first arrest, county and year of
 sampled felony conviction, subsequent arrests up to December 1976,
 time between arrests, time incarcerated between arrests, and number
 and type of short-span arrests and incarcerations. Part 2 contains
 data gathered in a survey meant to estimate the number and proportion
 of felony crimes attributable to narcotics users in Manhattan. Case
 records for male defendants, aged 16 and older, who were arraigned on
 at least one felony charge in Manhattan's Criminal Court, in 1972 and
 1975, were sampled. Data include original and reduced charges and
 penal code numbers, and indicators of first, second, third, and fourth
 drug status. Part 3 contains data gathered in a survey designed to
 estimate the number and proportion of felony crimes attributable to
 narcotics users in Manhattan. Case records for male defendants, aged
 16 and older, who were arraigned on at least one felony charge in
 Manhattan's Criminal Court or Manhattan's Supreme Court, were sampled
 from 1971 through 1975. Eighty percent of the sample was drawn from
 the Criminal Court while the remaining 20 percent was taken from the
 Supreme Court. Data include date of arraignment, age, number of
 charges, penal code numbers for first six charges, bail information
 (e.g., if it was set, amount, and date bail made), disposition and
 sentence, indications of first through fourth drug status, first
 through third drug of abuse, and treatment status of defendant. Part 4
 contains data gathered in a survey that determined the extent of
 knowledge of the 1973 drug law among ex-drug users in drug treatment
 programs, and to discover any changes in their behavior in response to
 the new law. Interviews were administered to non-randomly selected
 volunteers from three modalities: residential drug-free, ambulatory
 methadone maintenance, and the detoxification unit of the New York
 City House of Detention for Men. Data include sources of knowledge of
 drug laws (e.g., from media, subway posters, police, friends, dealers,
 and treatment programs), average length of sentence for various drug
 convictions, maximum sentence for such crimes, the pre-1974 sentence
 for such crimes, type of plea bargaining done, and respondent's
 opinion of the effects of the new law on police activity, the street,
 conviction rates, and drug use. Part 5 contains data from a survey
 that estimated the number and proportion of felony crimes attributable
 to narcotics users in Manhattan. Detained males aged 16 and older in
 Manhattan pre-trial detention centers who faced at least one current
 felony charge were sampled. Data include date of admission and
 discharge, drug status and charges, penal code numbers for first
 through sixth charge, bail information, and drug status and
treatment.
description: Part 1: Two random samples were taken for the study. One
 consisted of randomly selected days between October 1970 and
 September, 1971. The other sample consisted of randomly selected days
 between October 1972 and September 1973. For each selected day, all
 cases in which a person had been convicted of a non-drug felony and given
 a non-incarceration sentence were selected. All information about the
 offender was noted. This information was then given to the New York
 State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DJCS). The DJCS traced
 the criminal histories of each offender through December 1976. Only
 cases in which "rap sheets" (criminal histories) were found were
 used. Part 2: Two small samples of approximately 225 cases in each of
 two time periods, one pre-law (January 1972 through June 1973), and one
 post-law (July 1974 through December 1975), were drawn to determine the
 user/non-user composition of this group of felony charges which were
 reduced or dismissed at first arraignment. In addition, two samples of
 approximately 240 cases each were randomly selected from the
 population of felony cases entering criminal court arraignment. Two
 time periods were sampled: one a pre-law period, January 1972-June
 1973, and the second a post-law period, July 1974-December 1975. The
 results from the two samples made it possible to derive the overall
 rates at which felonies are reduced to misdemeanors or dismissed at
 criminal court arraignment. Part 3: In order to correct the charge
 distribution by user status from the pre-trial detention population, a
 sample of cases was gathered in the Supreme and Criminal Courts of
 Manhattan from all cases showing up in detention flow. In order to
 match the cases from detention, only felony cases surviving
 arraignment were selected. The sample was divided between Supreme
 Court cases and criminal court felony cases surviving
 arraignment. Since 20 percent of all felony arrests result in
 indictment, the sample was stratified: 20 percent Supreme Court and 80
 percent Criminal Court. In two 15-month time periods, one pre-law
 period (January 1972-March 1973), and one post-law period (October
 1974-December 1975), 901 cases were sampled. Part 4: For the study,
 45-minute interviews were conducted with a non-random selection of 291
 volunteers among clients in drug treatment programs in New York
 City. Three modalities of treatment are represented: residential
 drug-free, ambulatory methadone maintenance, and the detoxification
 unit of the New York City House of Detention for Men. Part 5: The
 sample was limited to Manhattan, and restricted to the male detention
 population, the contention being that males commit a majority of the
 felonies. A random sample was taken of over 500 felony cases per year for
 the years 1971-1975 from the Department of Corrections records kept on
 all defendants detained. The sample was stratified as follows:
 adolescent males constituted 20 percent of the sample, and adult males
 80 percent. In sampling the prison records, misdemeanor cases and
 records of sentenced prisoners transferred to the detention facilities
 for work assignments were excluded. All records of persons detained on
 felony charges were included in the sample, including the group of
prisoners who spent only a few hours in detention.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Predicate Felony File
DS2: Charge Reduction Study File
DS3: Criminal Court File
DS4: Ex-Drug Users File
DS5: Prison Detoxification Study File
description: Ex-drug users, repeat offenders, and male defendants aged
 16 or older in the criminal court system and in pre-trial detention
centers in New York City between the years 1971 and 1976.