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Do Drugs. Do Time: An Evaluation of the Maricopa County Demand Reduction Program

October 1994
This Research in Brief discusses how Maricopa County, Arizona, adopted a new approach to reducing use of illegal drugs, which targeted casual users of marijuana as well as regular users of potent drugs. The research study assessed the programs's first 2 years of operation, 1989-1991. A consortium of 26 municipal, county, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies established the Maricopa County Demand Reduction Program to enforce zero tolerance for use of illegal drugs and hold all users accountable for their actions. The program's slogan, "Do drugs. Do time." alerts users to the risk of sanctions under Arizona's laws where possession of an illegal drug is a felony. The researchers found the program created community wide awareness of the severity of the drug problem and the need to hold all users accountable.