NCJ Number
135854
Editor(s)
S Schober,
C Schade
Date Published
1991
Length
348 pages
Annotation
This volume contains the proceedings of a technical review meeting on "The Epidemiology of Cocaine Use and Abuse," sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse held in Rockville (Maryland) on May 3-4, 1988. The meeting covered four areas of research: trends in cocaine use, health and social consequences related to cocaine use and abuse, the natural history of cocaine abuse and predisposing factors for cocaine use, and the economics and distribution of cocaine.
Abstract
Several chapters discuss surveys describing trends in cocaine use in general population groups; the authors note demographic characteristics of cocaine users and analyze the association of cocaine use and its perceived availability. Cocaine use among high-risk populations is much more common; one chapter examines data on arrestees from the Drug Use Forecasting survey. The health and social consequences of cocaine use described here include psychiatric disorders, overdoes deaths, violence, and criminal activity. Studies describing risk factors of cocaine use and abuse and the clinical manifestations of cocaine dependence area also presented. The final chapters cover economic issues related to cocaine: characteristics of the international cocaine trafficking network and data on the purity and price of cocaine in the illicit drug market.