From beer to crack: developmental patterns of drug involvement.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES. Prior research has identified developmental stages in drug use in adolescence, from substances that are legal for adults to illicit drugs. The position of crack in patterns of drug involvement remains to be established. METHODS. The analyses are based on a sample (n = 1108) representative of 12th graders attending New York State public and private schools. From reported ages of first use of five classes of drugs (alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine but not crack, crack), alternate models of progression were tested for their goodness of fit through log-linear models. RESULTS. The sequence involves at the earliest stage the use of at least one licit drug, alcohol or cigarettes. Subsequent stages involve marijuana and cocaine; crack is the last drug in the sequence. The results confirm the more important role of alcohol among males and cigarettes among females in the progression into various drug classes. Age of first drug use at a lower stage is a strong predictor of further progression. CONCLUSIONS. The developmental pattern of drug involvement identified in the early 1970s still characterizes adolescent pathways of drug involvement in the late 1980s.

First injection of ketamine among young injection drug users (IDUs) in three U.S. cities

“…This may support a theory that perceptions surrounding a drug type and use, e.g., 'crackhead,' impacts age at initiation. Overall, this pattern of age at initiation of various drugs challenge theories which propose that 'soft', lower risk drug use precedes or is a gateway to 'hard', higher risk drug use (Kandel, 1975;Kandel and Yamaguchi, 1993). In addition, it raises the question of how the 'hard'/'soft' drug distinction applies to ketamine, and other drugs, such as ecstasy and GHB.…”

Role of individual, peer and family factors in the use of cannabis and other illicit drugs: A longitudinal analysis among Finnish adolescent twins

“…Among individual factors, use of licit substances Gilvarry, 2000;Guxens et al, 2007aGuxens et al, , 2007bKandel and Yamaguchi, 1993;Vega and Gil, 2005;Wittchen et al, 2007) has been reported consistently as a risk factor for subsequent use of illicit drugs. Characteristics related broadly to externalizing behaviors, such as impulsivity (Conway et al, 2003), early behavior problems (Kreek et al, 2005), as well as behavioral and emotional symptoms (Brook et al, 1996;Buckner et al, 2008;Jane-Llopis and Matytsina, 2006;Monshouwer et al, 2006;White et al, 2001;Wittchen et al, 2007) have been identified as risk factors for drug use.…”

Detection and Prevalence of Substance Use Among Juvenile Detainees

“…The low self-report and urinalysis biases for cannabis are an indication that few juveniles who use it will be overlooked by either approach to detection. Because cannabis use often leads to more serious drug use (Kandel and Yamaguchi, 1993;Kandel, 1984a, 1984b), almost all youth entering detention can be considered at risk for developing substance use problems.…”