NCJ Number
183310
Date Published
June 1999
Length
194 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes current drug abuse patterns and trends in 21 cities, based on the 46th meeting of the Community Epidemiology Work Group on June 8-11, 1999.
Abstract
Data sources included public health agencies, medical and treatment facilities, criminal justice and correctional offices, police agencies, surveys, and other sources unique to local areas. The data covered drug fatalities; drug-related emergency department mentions; the primary drug of abuse of persons admitted to drug treatment programs; arrestee urinalysis results; and Drug Enforcement Administration data on seizures, price, purity, prescription/distribution, and arrests. Results revealed that multiple-drug abuse is the normative pattern among a broad range of drug abusers. Cocaine remains the dominant drug problem, driven mainly by aging users who continue to experience adverse consequences. Heroin indicators display mixed trends. Younger populations continue to initiate heroin use in several cities; prices continue to decline as purity increases. Marijuana indicators continue to escalate across the country, especially among youth. Club drugs, especially gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), GHB precursors, ketamine, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), continue to spread across the country. Methamphetamine remains a predominantly western problem despite its appearance in midwestern and southern rural areas; however, indicators suggest declines in some areas. Figures, tables, and list of meeting participants