NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

gang. Of these arrestees, 37.8 percent committed the
offense while intoxicated, and robbery was the most
common offense (46.5 percent).
Alcohol
Of the 10,761 GTC patients who attended treatment
during the first 6 months of 2004, 3,582 were abusing
alcohol. The majority (82.6 percent) were male; 24.0
percent were age 15–19; and 20.9 percent were age
35 or older (exhibit 1). Many had a middle school
education (41.8 percent); 54.9 percent were single;
and 54.5 percent were from a middle-low socioeconomic
level. Almost one-half (47.0 percent) began to
use alcohol between ages 15 and 19; 48.2 percent
reported weekly use; and 31.3 percent reported using
alcohol 1–3 times per month.
Alcohol was the most commonly reported drug of first
use (33.3 percent) among GTC patients, but it ranked
third (17.4 percent) as a primary drug (exhibit 2).
Among GTC patients whose drug of first use was
alcohol, 91.4 percent had progressed to using a second
drug by the time of treatment entry, usually tobacco
(57.8 percent), marijuana (17.3 percent), or
cocaine (13.2 percent) (exhibit 9). Of this multiple
drug user group, 74.6 percent reported using a third
drug, usually marijuana (33.1 percent), cocaine (26.6
percent), or inhalants (10.5 percent).
NGCs reported that most of the 6,123 patients who
abused alcohol during the first half of 2004 were male
(91.6 percent) (exhibit 4); 42.2 percent were age 35 or
older; 33.3 percent had only an elementary school
education; 42.6 percent were single; and many (46.4
percent) started to use alcohol between ages 15 and 19.
The majority (72.0 percent) reported daily alcohol use,
and 21.9 percent used alcohol once a week.
Among NGC patients, alcohol ranked first as the
drug of first use (30.1 percent) and first as a current
drug of use (19.8 percent) (exhibit 5).
Natural history data on alcohol use among NGC
patients show that 29.6 percent were monodrug users
upon treatment entry, while the remaining 70.4 percent
had progressed to a second drug, typically marijuana
(36.9 percent), cocaine (21.4 percent), or tobacco
(15.5 percent). The 64.5 percent who had progressed
to using a third drug were most likely to use
cocaine (32.8 percent), marijuana (17.3 percent), or
crystal methamphetamine (13.9 percent) (exhibit 9).
Among juvenile infractors, 13.3 percent reported
alcohol abuse (exhibit 6). Most (91.5 percent) were
male; 45.1 percent had an elementary school educa-
EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—SISVEA
tion; 38.8 percent were subemployed; 30.7 percent
had tattoos; and 26.1 percent were gang members.
More than one-third of the juveniles (46.4 percent)
committed the offense while intoxicated, and robbery
(40.7 percent) was the most common offense.
According to medical examiners, the abuse of alcohol
was involved in 85.2 percent of the drug-related
deaths. Most of these decedents were male (93.8
percent), and 40.4 percent were age 40 or older (exhibit
7). The main cause of death was asphyxia (19.6
percent), followed by traffic accidents (17.8 percent).
The most common place where deaths occurred was
on the street (37.0 percent) or at home (30.4 percent).
Cocaine
GTCs reported that cocaine users in the first half of
2004 were mostly male (78.6 percent) (exhibit 1).
More than one-quarter (26.3 percent) were age 15–19
or 20–24; 45.6 percent had a middle school education;
51.8 percent were single; and 26.7 percent were
married. More than one-half (56.9 percent) were
members of a middle-low socioeconomic level, and
49.3 percent initiated cocaine use between ages 15
and 19. Forty-two percent used cocaine once a week,
and 35.8 percent used the drug daily.
Among GTC patients, cocaine ranked fourth as the
first drug of use (3.8 percent) and first as primary
drug (25.8 percent) (exhibit 2).
Natural history data on cocaine use among GTC patients
show that 25.7 percent were monodrug users
upon treatment entry; the remainder were already
using a second drug, usually alcohol (31.3 percent),
marijuana (20.0 percent), or tobacco (18.3 percent). Of
the multiple drug users, 69.3 percent were using a third
drug, usually alcohol (28.4 percent), tobacco (26.9
percent), or marijuana (19.7 percent) (exhibit 10).
Of the cocaine users who attended NGCs, 91.3 percent
were male; 23.6 percent were age 20–24; 39.5
percent had a middle school education; 31.5 percent
had an elementary school education; and 50.4 percent
were single (exhibit 4). Many (43.5 percent) started
to use cocaine between ages 15 and 19; 72.9 percent
reported daily use; and 21.4 percent reported weekly
use of cocaine.
Cocaine ranked fourth as the drug of onset (6.3 percent)
among the NGC cases and second as current
drug (18.7 percent) (exhibit 5).
Natural history data on cocaine abuse among NGC
patients in the first half of 2004 show that 36.2 percent
were monodrug users upon entry to treatment.
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 307