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What Do We Know about Latino Drug Use? Methodological Evaluation of State Databases

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Andres G. Gil

Florida International University

Bohdan Kolody

San Diego State University

This study has two goals, to estimate drug use trends among Latino adolescents in states where the majority reside, and evaluate methodologies used to gather this information to improve their quality. State surveys provide the only source ofestimates ofdrug use by ethnic groups at this geographic level. Presumably, these data are used to evaluate national drug control policies, target research and prevention, and law enforcement efforts. This study compares survey data from Monitoring the Future (national U.S. rates) with New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and California. Drug use trends for Latinos were divergent, with Texas trending toward higher rates and New Jersey toward lower rates. State and national comparisons showed a similar divergence, with national rates for Latinos generally lower than the states we compared. These differences may be real, as suggested by the data, or influenced by methodological differences over time and among states.

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