NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—New York City
Drug Use Trends in New York City
Rozanne Marel, Ph.D., John Galea, M.A., and Robinson B. Smith, M.A. 1
ABSTRACT
Drug use trends were again mixed for this reporting
period. Cocaine indicators in New York City appeared
to be stable in this reporting period. Although both
cocaine powder and crack remain of good quality,
many crack locations are seeing a decline in buyers
and sellers. Heroin indicators also remained stable.
Heroin remains widely available, although the purity
levels have fallen below the recently reported 60percent
level. Marijuana indicators, which had been
reaching new peaks, seem to have stabilized. Marijuana
continues to be available in a wide variety of
flavors and colors. Although the numbers remain
small, methamphetamine indicators are showing an
increase. Both New York City and upstate areas have
experienced an increase in treatment admissions.
Many kinds of prescription drugs continue to be
available on the street, and they seem to be growing in
popularity, based on indicator data and street observations.
Among the 88,479 New Yorkers living with
HIV or AIDS, men having sex with men and injection
drug use history were the two major transmission risk
factors.
INTRODUCTION
Area Description
New York City, with 8 million people, is by far the
largest city in the United States. It is situated in the
southeastern corner of the State on the Atlantic coast
and encompasses an area of 320 square miles. It has
nearly 600 miles of waterfront and one of the world’s
largest harbors.
Historically, New York City has been home to a large
multiracial, multiethnic population. New York City is
the largest and most racially/ethnically diverse city in
the country. As has been true throughout its history,
immigration continues to shape the character of New
York City. It has contributed to a substantial shift in the
race/ethnic composition of New York. Findings from
the 2000 census show that the population diversity continues:
35 percent are White; 27 percent are Black; 27
percent are Hispanic of any race; and 10 percent are
Asian and Pacific Islander. The five largest Asian
groups in the city are Chinese, Asian Indian, Korean,
Filipino, and Pakistani, and the five largest groups of
Hispanic origin are Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican,
Colombian, and Ecuadorian. Moreover, New York City
includes people who identify with races/ethnicities
from all over the world. It is estimated, for example,
that in Queens alone more than 120 languages are spoken.
Nearly 3 million New York City residents are
foreign born (2,871,032), which represents 36 percent
of the resident population, and about 1.2 million legal
immigrants became New York City residents between
1990 and 2000. The Dominican Republic remains the
city’s largest source of immigrants.
The city remains the economic hub of the Northeast. Its
main industries include services and wholesale and
retail trade. Of the more than 3.7 million people employed
in the city, 22 percent commute from surrounding
areas. Overall, the unemployment rate in New
York City for October 2004 was 6.1 percent, compared
with 5.2 percent in New York State and 5.5 percent in
the Nation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
the New York City rate is dramatically lower than it
was in October 2003, when it was 8.3, but it is higher
than the unemployment rate for October 2000, when
the rate was 5.4. New York City is still experiencing
the economic aftereffects of the September 11, 2001,
attacks on the World Trade Center. Many jobs in New
York City were lost as a result of decreased business
activity and the relocation of business firms.
Census 2000 data showed that the median household
income for New York City residents was $38,323, as
compared to $43,393 for State residents and $41,994
for U.S. residents as a whole. The percentages of persons
living below the poverty level for New York City
and the State as a whole were 21.2 percent and 14.6
percent, respectively. The comparable figure for U.S.
residents as a whole in 2000 was 12.4 percent.
New York City is also believed to be an economic hub
for the underground economy. Defined as all off-thebooks
and unregulated activity, the underground economy
is believed to be growing in the United States,
especially in cities with large immigrant populations
like Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. For example,
in a November 2004 report by the New York City
Comptroller dealing with just one sector of the under-
1 The authors are affiliated with the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, New York, New York.
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 163