Effects of the Vietnam Experience on Subsequent Drug Use Among Servicemen

Data from three samples of active duty servicemen (total n = 1743) surveyed in 1971 at a midwestern military installation provided only limited evidence that service in Southeast Asia affected subsequent drug use. Reported incidence of opiate use in the presurvey month was higher for Vietnam returnees than for nonreturnee controls from the same units on only one of three surveys. Results suggest that stateside use of at least the nonopiate drugs is as endemic to the general military population as it is to the special population of combat-zone returnees.