Office of National Drug Control Policy

Abstract

This Pulse Check is a report of national trends in illicit drug abuse and drug markets in the United States. The report draws on conversations with ethnographers and epidemiologists working in the drug field, law enforcement agents, and drug treatment providers across the United States. Information from each of these sources is summarized in narrative form broken down by drug type and presented in detailed tables at the end of the report. The four groupings of drugs are heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and emerging drugs. Results show that the market for heroin and cocaine remains fairly stable. Marijuana continues to be popular among young people and is frequently used with alcohol, hallucinogens, cocaine, or methamphetamines. Among the emerging methamphetamine continues to be a problem in the West and parts of the South, its low price making it an easily accessible drug. Club drugs, such as Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) and Ketamine, are part of the drug scene in most areas, with many young people using a combination of these substances. (RJM) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Office of National Drug Control Policy PULSE CHECK National Trends in Drug Abuse Executive Office of the President Office of National Drug Control Policy Barry R. McCaffrey, Director