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Manhattan Is Not Cheap, Even For Addicts

Determining the amount an individual user spends on illicit drugs can produce useful estimates of the individual financial burden, the level of drug-related crime, and the challenges to providing treatment in a specific market. In 2000, the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program introduced an advanced questionnaire designed to more accurately determine the financial aspects of illegal drug use in Manhattan. Many impoverished drug users resort to crime to support their habit. The expense of drugs is an indicator of how much drug-related crime may occur in a given area. The ADAM effort surveyed Manhattan arrestees and the questionnaire asked very specific questions like, “How much cash did you spend for crack the last time you bought it?” In a 30-day period infrequent marijuana users spent as little as $5 while daily marijuana users spent about $600. Arrestees that used both heroin and cocaine spent over $1000 a day.

Since only a third of the arrestees reported holding full time jobs, it is likely they engaged in a significant amount of money-producing crime. The new drug market questions used in the ADAM questionnaire obtained more extensive information about drug market transactions and may prove useful in analyzing the social and economic cost of illegal drug use in other geographic areas.

(Golub, A, Johnson, BD: How much do Manhattan arrestees spend on drugs? Drug and Alcohol Dependence: 76, 235-246)

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