Most men arrested in Atlanta test positive for drugs

By Fran Jeffries

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Most men arrested in Atlanta test positive for illegal drugs at the time of their arrests, according to a new federal study.

About 62 percent of men arrested in the city in 2010 tested positive for at least one drug, according to the National Drug Control Policy’s Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Annual Report.

“Drug addiction is too often the root of crime in our communities,” said Gil Kerlikowse, director of the National Drug Control Policy. He said the report's findings illustrate why the nation’s drug problem should be approached as a public health and safety problem.

The federal program analyzed results of drug tests given to men within 48 hours of their arrests.  All males were tested, not just those arrested on drug charges. Arrest charges ranged from misdemeanors to felonies.  Tests were conducted for the following nine drugs: marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines/methamphetamine, Darvon, PCP, benzodiazepines, methadone and barbiturates. The men were not tested for alcohol.

Other key findings from the report:

-- While nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of individuals arrested in Atlanta tested positive for one drug,  13 percent tested positive for two or more substances.

-- Significantly fewer men arrested in Atlanta tested positive for cocaine in 2010, compared to 2007 (30 percent vs. 46 percent.