ISSUE: S.C. drug use

OUR VIEW: Use of illegal drugs on the rise; crime will be too

The latest news on drug use is not good for South Carolina.

The S.C. Department of Public Safety released a report analyzing statistical indicators of illegal drug use in the state. The report revealed that nearly all indicators demonstrate a pattern of increasing illegal drug use in the state.

Partially funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, the report used arrest data collected and maintained by the State Law Enforcement Division, inmate admissions and drug-testing data from the S.C. Department of Corrections, offender admissions and drug-testing data from the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services as well as public health indicators from the Office of Research & Statistics’ state data warehouse.

Arrests for drugs and drug paraphernalia violations increased 47 percent from 1996 to 2006. Similarly, prison admissions of inmates with drug offenses increased 45 percent from 2000 to 2007 and admissions of offenders to community correctional supervision increased 33 percent from ‘96 to ‘07. Drug-related emergency room admissions increased 67 percent from 1996 to 2006. Only drug-related hospital admissions decreased, dropping 20 percent from 1996 to 2006.

Demographically, those arrested for illegal drug use were disproportionately male, members of minority racial groups and young adults. Males accounted for the vast majority (84 percent) of drug arrests and drug-related admissions to prison and community correctional supervision. Non-whites accounted for 53 percent of all drug arrests and had a drug arrest rate 147 percent higher than whites. Drug arrests were particularly prevalent among young adults from 17 to 24 years of age; that group accounted for 44 percent of all drug arrests and had a drug arrest rate more than twice that of the next highest age group.

By all available measures, marijuana and cocaine accounted for the vast majority of illegal drug use. From 1996 through 2006, 64 percent of drug arrests were for marijuana and 29 percent were for cocaine, together accounting for 93 percent of overall drug arrests. Marijuana accounted for 56 percent of positive drug tests among offenders under community correctional supervision and 88 percent of positive drug tests among inmates. A somewhat surprising finding was a pattern of an increasing arrest rate, 233 percent from 1996 to 2006 for powder cocaine while the crack cocaine arrest rate decreased 5 percent over the same time span. It is impossible to say if this is more reflective of a change in use, arrest patterns or both.

Most notable was the sheer volume of illegal drug use. Drug arrests reached a peak of more than 38,000 in 2006. In the same year, more than 8,500 new inmates were incarcerated with drug offenses; and more than 9,000 offenders with drug offenses were admitted to community corrections supervision. There were more than 2,000 drug-related in-patient discharges and more than 11,000 drug-related emergency room discharges. Perhaps most striking, during that same time period, based on the National Drug Use and Health Survey, more than 300,000 South Carolinians over 12 had used marijuana in the previous 12 months, more than 250,000 had used some illegal drug in the pervious month.

In Orangeburg County, law enforcement has consistently indicated that drug use plays a key role in the crime problem. In the deadly ‘90s here, crack cocaine was a factor in a homicide rate that was near the top in the state. Today, so much of the violence is tied to domestic incidents, where drug use is a leading factor.

With the state report as an indicator, don’t look for any further declines in the county and region’s crime problems.

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