INTRODUCTION

In this final chapter of the book, we reflect on what has been found from the results of the New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) program as a whole. We briefly review the main findings from each chapter and consider the themes that have emerged. We also discuss what has happened to the NEW-ADAM program in the United Kingdom and the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program in the United States since their demise. Finally, we consider some of the policy and research implications of the study.

SUMMARY

In Chapter 2, we discussed the research methods used in the NEW-ADAM program and described the method of urine collection and the personal interview. Arrestees were selected by a system of two-stage sampling with the first stage based on purposive rather than random sampling. We noted some of the limitations of the research including the considerable difficulties of interviewing arrestees in the chaotic conditions of police custody suites. Arrestees were often highly agitated, and some were potentially violent having been free on the streets just hours before interview. Despite these barriers, the research team succeeded in interviewing more than 4,500 arrestees during the research period and collected urine samples from almost all of them.

Chapter 3 examined the prevalence and incidence of drug misuse among arrestees. The results presented in the chapter provide evidence for the first time in the United Kingdom of the high levels of involvement of arrestees in drug misuse.