NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

non-Hispanics (27 percent) and White non-Hispanics
(17 percent).
Alcohol was identified as a secondary drug problem
for 41 percent of the primary marijuana admissions in
the second half of 2003. An additional 14 percent reported
methamphetamine, and 8 percent reported cocaine/crack
as their secondary drug problem. Compared
with other major illicit drug admissions, primary
marijuana admissions had the largest proportion of
males (75 percent) and users age 17 and younger (48
percent). When asked whether they had used any drug
intravenously in the year prior to admission, less than 2
percent of all primary marijuana admissions answered
affirmatively (exhibit 6).
Approximately 7 percent of the primary marijuana
treatment admissions in the first half of 2004 were
homeless at the time of admission, and 32 percent
were referred to treatment by the court or criminal
justice system (most likely by the juvenile justice
system, given the large proportion of adolescents
represented among primary marijuana admissions).
Sixty-seven percent were entering treatment for the
first time. Twenty-six percent had graduated from
high school, and, at the time of admission, 14 percent
were employed full- or part-time. Such characteristics
reflect the fact that just under one-half of all primary
marijuana admissions were younger than 18 at the
time of admission.
Preliminary unweighted data accessed from DAWN
Live! for the first half of 2004 indicate that of the
4,688 major substances of abuse reported in the Los
Angeles division, 516 (11 percent) were marijuana
reports (exhibit 7). Marijuana was the fourth most
likely major substance to be reported, following alcohol,
cocaine, and stimulants. Sixty-seven percent of
the patients reporting marijuana use were male; 40
percent were Hispanic (followed by 24 percent Black
and 22 percent White); and 61 percent were age 12–
29. A total of 1,094 chief complaints were logged for
individuals reporting marijuana. The top three complaints
were intoxication (298 complaints), altered
mental status (231 complaints), and psychiatric condition
(197 complaints). Marijuana-using patients
were most likely to be discharged home (54 percent)
or admitted to a psychiatric inpatient ward (21 percent).
California Poison Control System calls involving
exposure to marijuana among Los Angeles County
residents were stable at 35–39 calls between 2000
and 2003 (exhibit 8a). In the first half of 2004, marijuana-related
exposure calls plummeted to eight calls.
Between January 2003 and June 2004, 74 percent of
EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—Los Angeles County
the marijuana-exposed callers were male, and 81 percent
were age 25 or younger.
According to CHKS data for the 2003–2004 school
year (exhibit 10), 19.8 percent of all Los Angeles
County secondary school students (including 7th, 9th,
and 11th graders, and a small sample of nontraditional
students) who responded to the survey had
ever used marijuana, and 10.3 percent were current
marijuana users (defined as any use in the past 30
days). A breakdown of the data by grade level illustrated
that among responding seventh graders, 7.3
percent had ever used marijuana and 4.3 percent were
current marijuana users. A higher percentage of 9th
graders than 7th graders and a higher percentage of
11th graders than 9th graders reported current marijuana
use in the past 30 days. When asked about past-
6-month use of marijuana, 9.2 percent of 7th graders,
15.9 percent of 9th graders, and 22.7 percent of 11th
graders responded in the affirmative (exhibit 11).
According to long-term trends calculated from CHKS
data spanning over the most recent 5 school years
(exhibit 12), the pattern of past-30-day marijuana use
among responding secondary school students was
more likely than the use of many other drugs, but
slightly less likely than binge drinking. Past-30-day
marijuana use has decreased consistently from the
peak level of 13.2 percent seen in 1999–2000 to 10.3
percent in 2003–2004.
According to NFLIS data based on 54,240 analyzed
items reported by participating laboratories within Los
Angeles County between October 2003 and September
2004, 23 percent (12,210) of all items analyzed were
found to be cannabis. Cannabis was the third most
frequently identified substance in Los Angeles County.
A total of 3,151 marijuana arrests were made within
the city of Los Angeles in the first half of 2004; this
represents a 15-percent increase over the number of
marijuana arrests made during the same time period in
2003 (2,738). Marijuana arrests accounted for approximately
18 percent of all narcotics arrests made
between January 1 and June 30, 2004.
Marijuana continues to dominate drug seizures in the
city of Los Angeles. The amount of marijuana seized
increased nearly 200 percent, from 9,285.5 pounds in
the first half of 2003 to 27,691 pounds in the first half
of 2004. Between January and June 2004, the amount
of marijuana seized accounted for more than 95 percent
of the total weight of drugs (in pounds) seized.
Cocaine was a very distant second, accounting for an
additional 4 percent of the total weight. The street
value of the seized marijuana accounted for approximately
56 percent of the total street value of all drugs
seized in the first half of 2004.
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 103