Pulse check. National trends in drug abuse, Summer 1997

Based on telephone conversations in November 1996 with drug ethnographers and epidemiologists, law enforcement agents, and drug treatment providers all over the country, this report provides a blend of information and perspectives on the state of drug abuse in America.
The findings show that the markets for heroin and marijuana are growing, and the market for cocaine is stable. These findings are generally corroborated by all sources in different regions of the country. According to the sources surveyed, youth drug use is increasing. Not only are more youth using heroin and marijuana, cafeteria use of a variety of sedatives and hypnotics is increasingly popular. There is also an increase in poly-drug use and innovative methods of drug use. Treatment providers reported that the majority of their clients enter treatment with cocaine as the primary drug of abuse; in the West and Southwest, methamphetamine is the most widely cited primary drug of abuse. In the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the South, approximately 19 percent of people who enter treatment cite heroin as their primary drug of abuse. In the Midwest, South, and Southwest, this figure is approximately 10 percent. This indicates that although heroin use is increasing, there has not yet been a widespread entry of heroin abusers into treatment facilities; however, treatment providers do report an increase in the number of young clients who enter treatment with a number of club drugs and alcohol as their problem drug problem. Sources also reported that methods used to deal heroin and cocaine are becoming more sophisticated.