Examined differences between the visibility of drugs and drug use in over 2000 neighborhoods, surveying residents regarding drug- and alcohol-related behaviors and attitudes and comparing the responses of poor, urban, African Americans versus people from comparison neighborhoods. The most disadvantaged neighborhoods had the most visible drug…

Substance abuse has long been recognized as a precipitating factor in many domestic violence incidents. The main type of substance abuse is alcohol usage. Forty-six percent of the offenders reported being dependent on or abusing alcohol, while another 28% were found to be dependent on opiates, cocaine, marijuana, or inhalants. Nearly two-fifths of…

This Pulse Check is a report of national trends in illicit drug abuse and drug markets in the United States. The report draws on conversations with ethnographers and epidemiologists working in the drug field, law enforcement agents, and drug treatment providers across the United States. Information from each of these sources is summarized in…

This article identifies the potential affect of alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) on people who are blind or visually impaired, the barriers to providing effective AODA services for those people, and strategies for improving services for people with coexisting blindness or visual impairments and AODA. (Contains references.) (CR)

Treatment is one component of a strategy to reduce substance abuse. It can include detoxification; inpatient counseling; outpatient counseling; therapeutic communities; and self help groups. Referrals can take place in settings such as emergency rooms; employee assistance programs; churches; and physicians' offices. Unmet treatment needs can cause…

After more than a decade of decline in the use of drugs by American high school students, national, state and local data sources seem to indicate that high school student substance abuse, particularly the use of marijuana and hallucinogens such as LSD, has been increasing for the past two years. Indicators of student substance abuse can be found…

This survey examined the behaviors associated with the six leading causes of death or disability in one state's high school youth. Participants were 2,439 9th-12th grade students. Results identified alcohol as the drug most frequently used by high school students, with over half of students having used alcohol by their senior year and almost half…

The annual Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) tracks consumers' attitudes about illegal drugs. PATS consists of two nationally projectable samples: a teen sample for students in grades 7-12 and a parent sample. The 2002 PATS, conducted in homes and schools, collected data using self-report surveys. Results indicate that after a decade of…

"Welfare to work" is an issue in the substance abuse field because of the high number of people on welfare who have a substance abuse problem. One-fourth of women on welfare either abuse or are addicted to alcohol or other drugs. For women ages 18-24 the incidence is as high as 37%, according to the Center on Addiction and Substance…

Of 100 adolescents screened for drug use, 43% tested positive for drugs of abuse. Twenty-five percent of these adolescents entered treatment, with 8% requiring medical detoxification or inpatient treatment. Urine screening, when done for clinical rather than punitive purposes, appeared to facilitate entry into treatment. (RJM)

An Adolescent Study Group was established by the Michigan Department of Public Health/Center for Substance Abuse Services (MCPH/CSAS) to examine the current delivery system of substance abuse treatment services for adolescents. The primary focus was on treatment services for alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) problems among adolescents in…

Using a stratified random sampling procedure, 754 student athletes were surveyed regarding drug and alcohol use in eight different sports from eight universities across Canada. Provides statistics of substances athletes reported using, including pain medications, weight loss products, anabolic steroids, smokeless tobacco products, alcohol,…

Rational Recovery (RR) and the Addictive Voice Recognition Technique (AVRT) are described. Rational recovery is a young organization which views alcohol and drug dependency differently from the traditional field which sees addiction as a symptom of something, of a disease, of spiritual bankruptcy, of irrational thinking, of unhappiness, of…

Given the importance of monitoring the extent of tobacco, drug, and alcohol use among students in order to formulate policy and to initiate or continue appropriate prevention and intervention programs, this report profiles one state's 6th, 7th, 9th, and 12th grade students. More than 41,000 randomly selected public school and private school…

This survey examined alcohol and other drug use among full- and part-time undergraduate students from 18 colleges in New York State. Students (n=4,646) completed questionnaires on demographics; working and living arrangements; academics; perceptions of campus substance abuse policies; drinking behavior and substance abuse patterns; and…