Drug Abuse More Prevalent Among Whites Than African Americans: Study

EVANSTON, IL - The long-term abuse of “hard drugs” is more common among delinquent teens who are white than their African-American and Hispanic counterparts, according to a Northwestern Memorial study.

After following teens from different backgrounds for 12 years after their detentions, non-Hispanic white youths had 30 times the odds of cocaine use disorder compared with African-Americans. Hispanic youths had more than 20 times the odds compared with African-Americans.

“Those findings are striking, considering the widely accepted stereotype of African Americans as the most prevalent abusers of ‘hard drugs,’” said Linda A. Teplin, senior author of the study and Owen L. Coon Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

The “hard drugs” defined in the study include cocaine, PCP, opiate, amphetamine and sedatives.

“Our findings add to the growing debate on how the war on drugs has affected African Americans,” Teplin said. “We found that African Americans are less likely than other racial/ethnic groups to abuse hard drugs. Yet, African Americans are disproportionately incarcerated for drug crimes.”

The study also took a look at drug abuse between males and females. While men who were incarcerated in their teen years are more likely to abuse marijuana and alcohol during their 20s, it’s women who are more likely to have a disorder related to cocaine, opiate, amphetamine and sedatives.

The study followed 1,829 teens who were detained at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago between 1995 and 1998. It followed them through their late 20s.