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NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

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<strong>EPIDEMIOLOGIC</strong> TRENDS IN <strong>DRUG</strong> <strong>ABUSE</strong>—San Francisco Bay Area<br />

Patterns and Trends of Drug Use in the San Francisco Bay Area<br />

John A. Newmeyer, Ph.D. 1<br />

ABSTRACT<br />

In January 2005, the author conducted a comprehensive<br />

review of indicators of use of illicit substances<br />

in the San Francisco Bay area. Cocaine use<br />

remains low compared with use in the rest of the<br />

United States. Indicators show no clear upward or<br />

downward trend over the past 3 years. Heroin use<br />

indicators consistently point to a decline in use from<br />

the 1999 peak. Injection remains by far the predominant<br />

mode of usage. There are strong indications<br />

of an upsurge in use of oxycodone and hydrocodone.<br />

Methamphetamine use in the bay area is<br />

high compared to use in other metropolitan areas;<br />

most indicators point to a further increase in usage<br />

levels during the past 3 years. Indicators of use of<br />

‘club drugs’ reached peaks in 2001 and then declined<br />

in 2002; ED reports and medical examiner<br />

mentions remain few compared to those for cocaine,<br />

heroin, or ‘speed.’ The prevalence of HIV among<br />

heterosexual drug injectors appears to have stabilized<br />

at a low level (6 to 10 percent), but HCV appears<br />

to be close to full saturation among that population.<br />

A recent legislative bill (SB 1159) enables<br />

California pharmacies to sell hypodermic equipment<br />

without prescriptions. This may have a significant<br />

impact upon disease transmission. A recently<br />

approved initiative (Oakland’s Measure Z) directs<br />

local authorities to create systems for the regulation<br />

and taxation of adult marijuana use.<br />

INTRODUCTI<strong>ON</strong><br />

Area Description<br />

The San Francisco Bay area consists of the following<br />

counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra<br />

Costa, and Marin. The population was 4,160,000<br />

as of July 2003. The population is among the most<br />

multicultural of any urban region of the United<br />

States, with a particularly large, varied, and longestablished<br />

Asian-American representation (19 percent<br />

of the total). The Hispanic population represents<br />

a wide cross-section of persons of Latin American<br />

origin. Blacks account for some 11 percent of bay<br />

area residents. San Francisco County has long been a<br />

mecca for gays: gay men constitute more than 15<br />

percent of the adult male population.<br />

The bay area experienced its initial growth during the<br />

California gold rush. In the succeeding century and a<br />

half, it expanded greatly as a center for shipping,<br />

manufacturing, finance, and tourism. In recent years,<br />

Pacific Basin trade and high technology such as software<br />

and biotechnology development have led to further<br />

expansion and to a highly diversified economy.<br />

Since 1994, there has been a steep rise in the cost of<br />

rental housing in the bay area, especially in San<br />

Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo Counties. This has<br />

caused significant out-migration of lower income<br />

people, which may be exerting downward pressure<br />

on local drug-use prevalence. Reverses in hightechnology<br />

industries mitigated this pressure during<br />

2001–2003, with unemployment rising from 2 to 6<br />

percent and the overall population slightly declining.<br />

In the past year, unemployment rates have decreased<br />

and population is once again slowly increasing.<br />

Data Sources<br />

1 The author is affiliated with Haight-Ashbury Free Clinics, Inc., San Francisco, California.<br />

The sources of data for the drug abuse indicators<br />

within this report are described below:<br />

• Emergency department (ED) drug data were<br />

accessed from the Drug Abuse Warning Network<br />

(DAWN) Live!, a restricted-access online query<br />

system administered by the Office of Applied<br />

Studies (OAS), Substance Abuse and Mental<br />

Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The<br />

unweighted data are for three counties of the San<br />

Francisco Bay area (San Francisco, Marin, and<br />

San Mateo) for 2004. Seventeen of the 18 eligible<br />

hospitals in the area are in the DAWN sample.<br />

There are 19 emergency departments in the<br />

sample. (Some hospitals have more than one<br />

ED.) The data for 2004 were incomplete. Over<br />

the 12-month period, between 8 and 11 EDs reported<br />

data each month, with most reporting data<br />

that were basically complete (90 percent or<br />

greater). Data are preliminary and are not estimates<br />

for the San Francisco area. The DAWN<br />

Live! data were accessed 1/10/2005. Since all<br />

DAWN cases are reviewed for quality control,<br />

and may be corrected or deleted, the data reported<br />

here are subject to change. The information<br />

derived from DAWN Live! represent drug<br />

Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 227

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