NCJ Number
213966
Journal
Substance Use & Misuse Volume: 41 Issue: 4 Dated: 2006 Pages: 489-509
Date Published
2006
Length
21 pages
Annotation
Using the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA's) data on the prices of cocaine and marijuana as well as data on cocaine use from the College Alcohol Study, this study examined the demand for cocaine among U.S. college students in the 1990s.
Abstract
The study found that college students' annual use of cocaine was related to changes in the price of cocaine, reflecting the same pattern as was found in the general population. During the period examined (the 1990s), the fall in the price of cocaine accounted for approximately 12 percentage points of the 80-percent increase in the prevalence of annual use. The fall in the price of marijuana accounted for approximately 1 percentage point of the 80-percent increase in the prevalence of cocaine use. The negative relationship between the price of marijuana and cocaine use and the price of cocaine and marijuana use is consistent with a complementary relationship between these two drugs found in previous studies. The estimated effects of the demographic variables confirm that the prevalence of cocaine and marijuana use is greater among males and that cocaine use increases with age, whereas marijuana use decreases with age. African-American and Asian students were less likely to report annual use of either drug compared with their White counterparts; Native Americans were more likely to report using both drugs. Students whose families were Catholic, Moslem, or Protestant were less likely to report using cocaine in the last year compared with students from families with agnostic views. The study pooled cross-sectional data from the 1993, 1997, and 1999 waves of the College Alcohol Study. Data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 4-year colleges and universities. Data on the price of cocaine and marijuana were obtained from the DEA's STRIDE database. 3 tables, 30 references, and appended supplementary data