Condiciónes, Drogas, y La Cárcel:Latino Arrestees in Miami, New York, San Antonio, and San Jose

This article begins to fill the gap in knowledge concerning Latinos and justice policy and challenges widely held assumptions about assimilation. Specifically examined were drug usage, arrest offense, and life conditions along ethnic lines. The ethnic lines examined here include the three largest U.S. Latino populations (Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban). Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring 2000 program data were used in this study. Recommendations are offered to increase the efficacy of drug control and rehabilitation programs for specific Latino populations in the site cities studied and to address other needs within the Latino arrestee populations. The authors also identify the need for additional research that requires greatly improved data collection and reporting by government agencies around issues of ethnicity. These data can then be used to reform the penal, legal, and justice systems to effectively and fairly address the needs, rights, and concerns of different populations, specifically Latinos.