National Survey Collects Key Data on Drug Use and Drug Market Activity

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Abt Associates has been awarded a $5.3 million, 3-year contract from the Executive Office of the President Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), to support the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM II) program. The ADAM II program is a unique research survey that collects and analyzes data on heavy drug users who are involved with the criminal justice system. The contract is a follow-on to the work Abt Associates has been conducting since the program was restarted in 2006.

The ADAM program, which grew out of a redesign of the Drug Use Forecasting system, was originally launched in 2000. The program collects data that are used by law enforcement agencies, policymakers, researchers, and health practitioners to understand trends in the illegal use of drugs, the relationship between drugs and crime, and drug market activity in the adult male arrestee population. The data are also used to produce White House estimates of the total consumption and costs of drugs in the widely distributed publication, "What America Spends on Drugs."

Under the program, Abt Associates interviewers collect data in booking facilities during two 14-day periods each year, weighted appropriately to represent the county in which the primary city sits, and annualized to reflect the year's arrests. The program offers a unique advantage over many traditional surveys of drug use through its collection and testing of a urine sample from respondents to verify answers about recent drug use.

Executing the ADAM program research with methodological integrity is a difficult task given the fact that jails are chaotic environments with priorities that do not include research. Abt Associates applies rigorous scientific sampling and estimation procedures, and data collection expertise, as well as its knowledge of the criminal justice system, to ensure the reliability of the findings.

"Abt Associates has been involved with the ADAM project for over a decade," said Dr. Dana Hunt, Principal Scientist and Project Director. "Our team of survey and subject matter experts is well versed in the project, and during the last three years has made a number of enhancements to improve the precision of estimates and the utility of the data collected under the program. We are looking forward to working with ONDCP in the next phase of the program."

Abt Associates, an employee-owned company, applies scientific research, technical assistance, survey, and consulting expertise to a wide range of social, economic and health policy issues; international development; clinical trials and registries; and complex business problems. Founded in 1965, the company provides services to U.S. federal, state and local governments; universities and foundations; media; and major corporations. In fiscal year 2009, the company had revenue of $264 million. Its staff of over 1,300 is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Bethesda, Maryland; Durham, North Carolina; Lexington, Massachusetts (Abt Bio-Pharma Solutions, Inc.); New York, New York (Abt SRBI); and in Africa, Asia, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

SOURCE Abt Associates

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