Ecstacy and Cocaine: Patterns of Use among Prime Age Individuals in Amsterdam

Abstract

This paper uses information about prime age individuals living in Amsterdam to study the patterns of use of ecstasy and cocaine. The information was collected in surveys in 1994, 1997 and 2001. The analysis shows that the use of ecstasy and cocaine is mainly influenced by calendar year, family situation, and parental cannabis use. Individuals that are more likely to use cocaine are also more likely to use ecstasy. Whether or not an individual starts using ecstasy or cocaine is highly age dependent, i.e., it usually happens between age 20 and 35. If an individual has not used at age 35, he or she is very unlikely to do so at a later age. The entrance of ecstasy in the Amsterdam drugs market in the course of the 1990s did not reduce the use of cocaine.