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Pulse Check
National Trends in Drug Abuse
Winter 1998
Appendix: Pulse Check Methodology
The Pulse Check report has been published quarterly or semi-annually since 1992. Its goal is straightforward: to provide current information on recent and changing trends in drug abuse in the United States. The Pulse Check utilizes conversations with ethnographers and epidemiologists, law enforcement officials, and treatment providers all working in the drug field to compose a snapshot of the current state of drug abuse nationwide. For this issue, approximately 122 contacts were consulted from these three fields.
Ethnographers, Epidemiologists, and Other Ethnographic Sources
Ethnography is a mode of research that analyzes the behavior of groups in their natural settings. Through field observation and interviewing, ethnographers gather a variety of data. However, ethnography is not undercover work. Rather, ethnographers attempt to enter the natural setting of the group being studied fully identified as social scientific researchers. The goal of ethnography is to enter the drug user's world and describe it free of predetermined notions, on its own terms.
Epidemiologists are also interviewed for this report. Epidemiologists study the origins, spread, and control of diseases, generally using a public health paradigm. In the field of drug abuse, they track changes in patterns of drug use, including the incidence and prevalence of the use of specific drugs, characteristics of users, and any emerging trends. Many of the epidemiologists who report for the Pulse Check are members of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Community Epidemiology Working Group (CEWG).
The final set of ethnographic sources consulted for the Pulse Check report is comprised of sociologists and psychologists who use ethnographic methods in their studies of drug abuse.
In sum, the ethnographic sources consulted for the Pulse Check report are some of the best-known drug researchers in the country. In some cases, they are trained ethnographers, in the other cases they are epidemiologists, sociologists, and psychologists who employ ethnographic research methodology or track ethnographic sources. To the extent possible, contacts remain the same from issue to issue.
The 15 ethnographers, epidemiologists, and other ethnographic sources contacted for this issue of the Pulse Check follow:
Los Angeles, CA: Valerie Hoffmann, Ph.D., M.P.H., Assistant Research Psychologist, UCLA Drug Abuse Research Center, University of California-Los Angeles.
San Francisco, CA: Sheigla Murphy, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Scientific Analysis.
Bridgeport, CT: Gary Geter, Outreach Supervisor/Case Manager, Teen Outreach and Primary Services (TOPS) Agency.
Denver, CO: Lee Hoffer, Urban Links Project, Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado at Denver.
Newark, DE: Mario Pazzaglini, Ph.D., Private Consultant to the State of Delaware and several drug treatment facilities. Formerly with the State of Delaware, Bureau of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and the University of Delaware.
Miami, FL: Bryan Page, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology and Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Miami.
St. Petersburg, FL: Thomas Mieczkowski, Professor, Department of Criminology, University of South Florida.
Honolulu, HI: Dr. William Wood, Interim Dean, University of Hawaii School of Public Health.
Chicago, IL: Lorna Thorpe, Research Specialist, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois.
Minneapolis, MN: Carol Falkowski, Senior Research Analyst, Hazelden Foundation.
Kansas City, MO: Margaret Turner, Deputy Director, Project Neighborhood.
New York City, NY: Doug Goldsmith, Principal Research Associate, National Development and Research Institute, Inc.
Austin, TX: Jane Maxwell, Director, Needs Assessment Department, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
San Antonio, TX: Reyes Ramos, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation, Mujeres Project, Inc.
Seattle, WA: Michael Gormen, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S.W., Research Scientist, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, University of Washington.
Law Enforcement Sources
Law enforcement sources were derived from previous Abt Associates contacts and sources recommended by various law enforcement agencies. These sources are typically narcotics task force officers, special squad officers, and DEA agents.
This issue of Pulse Check contacted law enforcement sources from 10 cities. Generally, law enforcement contacts remain the same across issues of this report. However, when replacements must be made, they are done so upon recommendation, and when new contacts are established in new cities, they are included.
Treatment Providers
The sample of treatment providers was selected from the Uniform Facility Data Set (U.F.D.S, formerly the National Drug Abuse Treatment Unit Survey), a compilation of drug and alcohol treatment programs composed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The U.F.D.S. is drawn from the National Facility Register, a directory supplied by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, DHHS.
This issue of Pulse Check draws from interviews with a sample of 104 treatment providers representing four geographic regions. From each region, 20 large programs (over 100 clients) and 20 small programs (less than 100 clients) were identified, and 10-20 of each type were contacted. The States in each region follow:
Region I: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania
Region II: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington D.C.
Region III: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota
Region IV: Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, Arizona, California, Idaho, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon
Topics of Discussion
The following is a sample of items discussed during Pulse Check conversations.
ETHNOGRAPHERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS
- Current rate of use of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana in the community, and any change in rate of use over the last 6 months.
- Age, ethnicity, and gender of users of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana in the community, and any change in these characteristics over the last 6 months.
- Frequency of use, typical dosage, and primary route of administration of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana, and any change over the last 6 months.
- Whether and how users are combining drugs.
- Whether there are any emerging drugs in the community.
- Characteristics of sellers in the community, any changes in those characteristics, and whether or not sellers deal multiple drugs.
- Typical prices and purity of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana.
TREATMENT PROVIDERS
- Percentage of treatment population reporting heroin, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and alcohol as the primary drug of abuse, and any change in these percentages over the last 6 months.
- Percentage of treatment population injecting versus inhaling/smoking heroin and cocaine, and any change in these percentages over the last 6 months.
- Other drugs abused in concert with heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol.
- Age, ethnicity, and gender of treatment population according to primary drug of choice.
- Percentage of treatment population having had prior treatment.
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