A Methodology for Monitoring Adolescent Drug Abuse Trends

This study uses current and retrospective survey data to describe il- licit drug use trends in a sizable adolescent population. The data were gathered in December 1970 from 13,603 students, 85% of those enrolled in a suburban Chicago high school district. The survey generated detailed information concerning six different epidemiologic parameters of drug use : incidence, prevalence, remission, exposure to drugs, frequency of use, and variety of drugs used. Respon- dents were asked to systematically chart their use of illicit drugs over the previous five years. The use of multiple epidemiologic parameters permit- ted us to trace the spread of drug use and the development of a sizable population of active drug users during the five-year period. While the findings regarding specific drug use trends in this population are primarily of interest to the communities which were studied, the ways in which various parameters can be used to identify and describe these trends may be of more general interest. This paper presents few findings concerning the relationships of these parameters to one another or to other