Introduction
The Pulse Check report has been published periodically by the Office of National Drug Control Policy since 1992.1 Its purpose is to provide current information on recent and changing trends in drug abuse in the United States. The Pulse Check is based on conversations with ethnographers and epidemiologists, law enforcement officials, and treatment providers working on various aspects of the drug problem. It thus provides a snapshot of the current state of drug abuse and drug markets in various regions of the country. Information from each source is summarized in the body of the report and is then presented in detailed tables by city or region. This issue also contains a special section on speedballing -- combination heroin and cocaine use -- which appears to be common in many areas.
The 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 descriptive information to policy makers and researchers about changes and trends in the drug scene as they develop.
The Pulse Check is prepared by Dr. Dana Hunt and the staff of Abt Associates under contract to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. For this issue, Abt staff interviewed 30 ethnographers, epidemiologists, and law enforcement officials who were selected both for their expertise and to provide geographic representation. Generally, these sources are the same across different issues of the Pulse Check. Treatment providers are selected randomly from a national directory of treatment programs in order to represent four regions of the country and both large and small programs. One hundred eight treatment providers were interviewed for this report. The appendix provides a detailed description of the methodology used to conduct the Pulse Check and a list of ethnographic sources.
1 From 1992 until 1996, the Pulse Check was published quarterly. Currently, the Pulse Check is produced every six months.
