Correlates of daily smoking among female arrestees in New York City and Los Angeles, 1997.

Objectives: I sought to determine correlates of daily smoking among recently arrested women involved in the Drug Use Forecasting Program (DUF), many of whom are illicit drug users. Also, I compared smoking rates among DUF women, who were illicit drug users, with rates among women taking part in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, who do not have high levels of drug use, to determine if drug use accounts for heavy smoking.

Methods: I compared daily smoking, illicit drug use, and selected demographic characteristics in 2 DUF cities: New York, with the highest rate of smoking among DUF cities in 1997, and Los Angeles, with the lowest.

Smoking among female arrestees: prevalence of daily smoking and smoking cessation efforts.

Prior research on smoking in the criminal justice system has focused on men. This study examines smoking behavior among female arrestees in New York City (NYC). The sample includes 836 women interviewed as part of the Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) Program.