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RACE AND THE ENFORCEMENT OF DRUG DELIVERY LAWS IN ...

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acial/ethnic groups. These data indicate that rates of serious drug use are<br />

roughly similar across public school students of diverse racial and ethnic<br />

backgrounds. Overall, Asian public school students report the lowest rates of<br />

serious drug use, while Hispanic students report the highest rates. Thirty percent<br />

of all black students, compared with 26 percent of all white students, reported<br />

using a serious illegal drug in the past 30 days (see Figure 3).<br />

35%<br />

Figure 3. Prevalence of Past Month Drug Use among Seattle<br />

Public School Students<br />

30%<br />

25%<br />

20%<br />

15%<br />

10%<br />

5%<br />

Asian<br />

Black<br />

Hispanic<br />

White<br />

All Students<br />

0%<br />

Cocaine Hallucinogens Ecstasy Stimulants Any of These<br />

Source: SAMHSA, Communities that Care Youth Survey. Data provided by Dr. Michael W.<br />

Arthur, Research Associate Professor, Social Development Research Group, University of<br />

Washington.<br />

Each of these two surveys suggests that the prevalence of serious drug use<br />

among white Seattle residents is similar to the prevalence of serious drug use<br />

among Seattle residents as a whole. The SAMHSA Survey on Drug Use and Health<br />

found slightly higher levels of past year drug use among whites (18.6 percent)<br />

than among Seattle residents as a whole (18.5 percent). The percentage of whites<br />

who recently (i.e. in past month) used a serious drug (7.9 percent) was similar to<br />

the percentage of all Seattle residents (8.5 percent) who had done so.<br />

Applying the past-year prevalence rates to the Seattle population aged 12 and<br />

older suggests that 69.1 percent of the Seattle residents aged 12 and older who<br />

used a serious illicit drug in the past year were white. This figure is nearly<br />

identical to the share of the Seattle population aged 12 and older that is white<br />

(68.7 percent). Extrapolating past-month prevalence estimates to the Seattle<br />

population suggests that 63.9 percent of the Seattle residents aged 12 and older<br />

24

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