As part of an overview of ATOD use in the American Hispanic community, the article examines risk behaviors associated with their drug use; describes the consequences of drug use, including the relationship between drug use and AIDS and drug use and criminal behavior; and recommends future research on the drug using behavior of Hispanics living in the mainland United States. The article suggests community-based cross-sectional surveys and longitudinal studies on the extent of Hispanic ATOD use, whether drug use behavior of Hispanic females is changing and factors affecting the change; community-based ethnographic and longitudinal studies to investigate the role of socioeconomic status, cultural values, acculturation-related stress, and social support systems; community-based cross-sectional surveys or ethnographic studies of the relationships among injecting drug use, AIDS, guns, drug-related violence and other criminal behavior; and methodological studies to explore the validity of data collected in national surveys regarding Hispanic drug use. Notes, tables, figures, references