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Drug abuse, specifically heroin abuse, is generally considered the most serious social problem Puerto Rico has been forced to face during the last decade. Public opinion surveys indicate that the increase in the number of those addicted, the related problems of a high crime rate, especially crimes against property, overcrowded, seriously deficient penal institutions, narcotics-related police and court deficiencies, and the apparent ineffectiveness of both treatment and prevention programs have been uppermost in the voters' minds in recent elections.
The drug problem in Puerto Rico has been studied intensely by sociologists. Space permits only a brief summary of their findings here (Garcia and Rosello 1971).
The geographic distribution of addict density (now more than 856.0 per 100,000 in, San Juan) follows lines of industrialization and urbanization. It is concentrated in the northeast sector of the island which has the best medical facilities, housing, and social services.