Introduction
The Pulse Check is a quick turnaround report of national trends in illicit drug abuse and drug markets issued periodically1 by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Since its inception in 1992, the goal of each Pulse Check has been to capture the most current information about drug abuse and drug markets. The Pulse Check draws on conversations with ethnographers and epidemiologists working in the drug field, law enforcement agents, and drug treatment providers across the country. Approximately seventy-five people are called for each report.
Pulse Check is not a population-based survey and should not be considered a substitute for population based, long-term research. Rather, it is designed to provide timely information to policy makers and researchers about changes and trends in the drug scene as they develop. The information in this issue is drawn from a round of calls made in November of 1996. Information from each source is summarized in narrative form by drug, and presented in detailed tables at the end of the report.
This Pulse Check also includes a special report on the methamphetamine market. This report was produced in December 1996 and released for limited distribution in January 1997. Unlike the regular Pulse Check, this report examines six States in the West and Southwest that have been hit particularly hard by the problems associated with methamphetamine abuse and trafficking. The special methamphetamine report can be found in Appendix A.
The Pulse Check is produced by Dr. Dana Hunt and the staff of Abt Associates under contract to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Information is obtained through lengthy conversations with drug ethnographers and epidemiologists, law enforcement agents, and drug treatment providers across the country. The first two sources are selected to represent various areas of the country and are generally the same reporters for each round of calls. The treatment providers are drawn randomly each time from a national directory of treatment programs to represent both small and large programs across the country. A description of the methodology used to conduct the Pulse Check and a list of ethnographic sources can be found in Appendix B.
1Between 1992 and 1996, the Pulse Check was published quarterly; it is currently conducted twice each year.
