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Biomedical subjects

J C Ball

Publications and source records attributed to J C Ball.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Admissions to methadone maintenance: comparisons between programs and implications for treatment.

Male admissions to six methadone maintenance programs in three cities were interviewed. The characteristics of these patients in the seven Addiction Severity Index (ASI) scales--medical, employment/support, alcohol, drug, legal, family/social and psychiatric--were described. The characterization of drug addicts was not found to be unidimensional. Though the admissions, as a group, had some positive characteristics (e.g., over 50% reported full time employment over the past three years), they also reported severe problems. For the 30 days prior to interview, heroin was the most commonly used drug, followed by cannabis, cocaine, and alcohol. Less than 10% had never been arrested and subjects reported engaging in crime on 6.4 of the past 30 days. The majority of these subjects had never married, but very few lived alone. The most common psychiatric symptoms reported were depression and anxiety. Characteristics were compared between programs and differences were found in race and age as well as two of the seven ASI areas. Thus, despite differences in demographics there was a great commonality in terms of the characteristics of admissions to these programs. The implications of this for the behavioral problems related to drug abuse and for the development of treatments aimed at specific areas (such as measured by the ASI) were discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The relationship of preaddiction characteristics to the types and amounts of crime committed by narcotic addicts.

Postaddiction crime rates among narcotic (principally heroin) addicts in five different areas (theft, violence, dealing, confidence games, and other crime) were found to be substantially related to a number of preaddiction characteristics, especially criminal activity and drug and alcohol use prior to addiction to narcotics. Early family influences such as lack of religious training, history of parents' arrest, and use of drugs and alcohol by other family members also appear to play an important role. Early identification of extremely crime-prone individuals followed by intensive intervention efforts might reduce the amounts of crime such persons might otherwise commit.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Medical services provided to 2,394 patients at methadone programs in three states.

The type and amount of medical services provided to 2,394 patients in methadone maintenance programs in three states was studied. Data were obtained from on-site confidential interviews with the entire treatment staff at seven programs. It was found that there were marked differences in the number and type of medical staff. Thus, there was ten times more coverage by physicians at some programs than others. In general, there were notable differences in the treatment staff available. Comparable variations among the programs were found with respect to the actual provision of medical services. Thus, the number of patients seen by the medical staff on a weekly basis varied from a high of 185 patients to a low of 36 patients. Similarly, the proportion of each program's patients receiving medical treatment per week varied from 53 to 14 percent. Reasons for those variations in medical services are considered.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗
PubMed1986

A comparison by ethnic group and city of the criminal activities of narcotic addicts.

In an effort to update the results of earlier studies concerning the amounts and types of crimes committed by urban, male narcotic addicts, confidential interviews were conducted with addicts attending methadone maintenance clinics in Baltimore and New York. Samples were stratified by ethnic group (black and white in Baltimore; black, white, and Hispanic in New York), and the amounts and types of crimes committed were compared across groups, cities, and narcotic addiction status (actively addicted/not actively addicted) using six different measures all based on the concept of crime-days per year at risk. Consistent with previous findings, addicts were found to engage in a great deal of criminal activity, especially during periods of active addiction to narcotics. Differences in the amounts and types of crimes committed were found among ethnic groups and, to a lesser extent, between cities as well. For the Baltimore sample, comparison of findings with those derived from an earlier (1973-78) data base suggests that the amount of crime committed by addicts has increased in several categories as well as overall. However, minor differences in data collection procedures render this finding suggestive rather than conclusive.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

A comparison by race/ethnicity of narcotic addict crime rates in Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia.

In an effort to provide timely information concerning the criminal activities of narcotic addicts in three different metropolitan areas, male narcotic addicts attending methadone maintenance/detoxification centers in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City participated in extensive, confidential interviews conducted between May 1983 and April 1984. The information obtained focused on the amounts and types of crimes committed during the addict's longest period of active addiction to opiates, their derivatives and synthetics, as well as his first period of nonaddiction. Crimes committed were placed in one of five categories as follows: Theft, Violence, Drug Sales, Deception/Forgery, and Other. Several different measures of criminal activity were utilized, all embodying the concept of crime-days per year at risk. Such crime-days measures involve annualizing, i.e., the number of crime-days accumulated by each subject in each category during a specified time at large in the community is expressed as crime-days per year at risk by taking the ratio of crime-days to total days at large and multiplying by 365. Addicts were compared by race/ethnicity (Black, White, and Hispanic) within cities as well as by race/ethnicity across cities using one-way analysis of variance procedures. Addict crime rates were also compared for the period of active addiction and nonaddiction. Several mean differences by race/ethnicity within city, as well as by race across cities, were noted. Moreover, crime rates tended to be higher during the period of active addiction. In this sense, then, drugs may be said to "drive" crime.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Chemical reactivities and mutagenicities of a series of chloromethylbenzo[a]pyrenes.

The chemical and mutagenic properties of a series of chloromethylbenzo[a]pyrenes (chloromethyl-BaP) (chloromethyl groups in position 1-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 10-, 11- or 12-) were studied in order to address the question of the importance of arylmethyl carbocations as possible ultimate carcinogens of methylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The rates of solvolysis of the series of chloromethyl-BaP in 50% aqueous acetone decrease in the order: 6 greater than 1 much greater than 4 greater than 12 greater than 5 greater than 10 greater than 11. There is a rough correlation (r = -0.80, P less than 0.05) between rates of solvolysis and the carbon chemical shifts of the methylene carbons. There is a good correlation (r = 0.98, P less than 0.001) between the rates of solvolysis and the gas phase stabilities of the carbocations, (M+ -35), obtained from mass spectral analysis. The mutagenicities of the series of chloromethyl-BaP in the Ames assay with strains TA98 and TA100 showed strong to very strong mutagenicities for the 4-, 5-, 10-, 11- and 12-isomers and weak mutagenicities for the 1- and 6-isomers. The corresponding hydroxymethyl-BaP were not mutagenic. The mutagenicities of some of the chloromethyl-BaP are among the highest reported for direct-acting (not requiring microsomal activation) mutagens in the Ames assay.

Benzopyrenes↗
PubMed1985

Crime as a source of income for narcotic addicts.

Although it has been well documented that narcotic addicts derive the bulk of their income from criminal activities and that there are major differences between black and white addicts, interview data presented in this paper show little difference between the two races with respect to the degree of dependence on criminal income. However, the results also highlight the diversity among narcotic addicts in that there are some individuals who derive none of their funds from illegal sources, thus suggesting that not all addicts should be treated in the same manner.

Black or African American↗