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| Vol. 17, No. 24 | March 19, 1998 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 24 | March 19, 1998 |
AIDS, illegal drugs, substance abuse and an ever-growing prison population are among the problems facing the nation today.
James A. Inciardi, Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies, is in the front lines of addressing these problems through research and action, and his work has taken him from Delaware to Miami to Rio de Janeiro and to New York.
His research has resulted in writing or editing 40 books-with more under way-reflecting his expertise in such areas as criminal justice, drugs, substance abuse, AIDS and intervention programs dealing with these problems.
Four books have come out within the last year, and a fifth is being written now.
Cocaine-Exposed Infants, written for the classroom with Hilary L. Surratt and Christine Saum and published in 1997, refutes the crack baby myth, Inciardi said.
"Instead of crack babies, they should be called poverty babies. Cocaine is not the issue here as much as the whole syndrome- poverty, poor prenatal care and access to care, combined with drug use. Contrary to what the media has said, babies whose mothers have taken cocaine do recover in time. The fetal alcohol syndrome is more serious because it can be an irreversible disorder," Inciardi said.
Another new textbook is Elements of Criminal Justice, written for students in criminal justice courses in community colleges. "The book is based on his major textbook, Criminal Justice, now in its sixth edition, which was written for four-year university and college students. Although both books deal with the structure of criminal justice-police, courts and corrections-there is more emphasis on public law in the major book.
"In community colleges, students may enroll in criminal justice courses because their goal is to serve as police officers, corrections officers or parole officers or because they have a general interest in the subject. Many four-year college students are enrolled in combination pre-law programs and liberal arts, and the original Criminal Justice with its emphasis on law was designed for them," Inciardi said.
The American Drug Scene, edited with Karen McElrath, is a collection of papers by a variety of experts who look at the drug problem from different perspectives, from policy to health issues. This book, in its second edition, also is a textbook to be used in courses on drugs.
Heroin in the Age of Crack Cocaine, edited with Lana Harrison and published this year, is directed toward researchers in the drug field, Inciardi said. "During the crack cocaine era from the mid '80s to the '90s, heroin was ignored. But, it has not gone away-the levels of heroin users has stayed fairly constant over the years, only going down during World War II, when some users went into the military where it was unavailable and when shipping routes dried up. This book contains essays by a variety of authors who look at the criminal patterns, treatment availability, the impact of treatment and other heroin-related issues," he said.
Inciardi is now writing Sex, Drugs and AIDS in Brazil, based on a U.S. model program that was adopted for Brazil more than four years ago. Approximately 1,600 drug users from the hillside shanty towns of Rio de Janeiro were recruited into the program to receive HIV testing, counseling and follow-up, and the program was effective in reducing AIDS risk behavior, according to Inciardi.
In addition to his writing, Inciardi is involved in research at the Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies in Delaware on the treatment of drug-involved prisoners. Most of those who take drugs eventually enter the criminal justice system. "The secret to success of treatment programs is continuity," Inciardi pointed out. "Treatment programs that continue through prison, work release programs and parole have success."
Delaware is an excellent state for research and developing treatment programs in the criminal justice system because of its size, he said. Compared to other states, it has a relatively small prison population, the impact of such programs is statewide and contacting key people is easier. Over the years, Delaware has served as model for the country, according to Inciardi.
The state does have its problems, however, Inciardi pointed out. It is seventh in the nation in the number of new AIDS cases per capita, and with other states in the eastern corridor, it has an injection drug use problem, he said.
Most recently, Inciardi has opened up a new office of the UD Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies in New York City, where he once served as associate research director of the New York State Narcotic Addiction Control Commission. Having a branch office in New York will provide new research opportunities in a large urban area, which will complement and expand the research carried out in Delaware, Inciardi said.
Inciardi is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Opportunities in Substance Abuse Research, the U.S. Sentencing Commission Task Force on Drugs and Violence, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues in AIDS Research and the National Safety Council Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs. He has chaired the NIDA/NIH Drug Abuse/ AIDS Research Review Committee.
-Sue Swyers Moncure
