Drug use among Texas alternative school students: findings from Houston's Safer Choices 2 Program.
Self-report drug use data were collected from 494 alternative school students, grades seven through 12, surveyed through the Safer Choices 2 study in Houston, Texas. Data were collected between October 2000 and March 2001 via audio-enabled laptop computers equipped with headphones. Twenty-eight percent of the sample reported past-month marijuana use, and 10% reported past-month opiate/codeine use. Males were almost twice as likely as females to have used cocaine during the past month, and over four times as likely to have used opiates/codeine during the past month. Students 16 years and older and were twice as likely to have ever used cocaine and opiates/codeine than students under 16 years. Latinos were 10 times more likely than Blacks to have ever used cocaine; Blacks were twice as likely as Latinos to have used opiates/codeine during the past month. Males were twice as likely as females to have tried "fry," a new street drug made of tobacco or marijuana mixed with embalming fluid and PCP. These new drug trends are startling because they indicate a potential for long-term treatment services for abusers.
Peters
Ronald J
RJ
Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
Tortolero
Susan R
SR
Addy
Robert C
RC
Markham
Christine
C
Yacoubian
George S
GS
Escobar-Chaves
Liliana S
LS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs