HIGH-SCHOOL-STUDENTS WHO USE CRACK AND OTHER DRUGS

Background: When it appeared in the 1980s, crack was thought to repres ent a completely new pathway of entry into drug use. Our objective was to identify the distinguishing characteristics of adolescents who hav e reached different stages of drug use, in particular the highest stat e represented by crack. Methods: Adolescents (N=7611) representative o f students in grades 7 to 12 from 53 New York state schools were class ified in the following six mutually exclusive, cumulative categories o f drug use: nonusers; alcohol and/or cigarette users only; marijuana u sers only; users of illicit drugs other than marijuana but neither coc aine nor crack; cocaine but not crack users; and crack users. The grou ps were compared in level of psychosocial functioning. Results: Studen ts who use illicit drugs show deficits in school performance, quality of family relationships, and health and increased psychological sympto ms. Compared with nonusers, they are more delinquent and more actively involved with their peers and live in social environments in which th e perceived use of drugs by other adolescents and parents is more exte nsive. Delinquency and extent of perceived drug use consistently incre ase with each higher stage of use. Crack users exhibit the lowest leve l of psychosocial functioning of any drug-using group. Conclusions: Th ere are stage-specific characteristics and common characteristics (del inquent participation, peer drug use) throughout the developmental seq uence of drug use. Despite declines over the last two decades in the p revalence of the use of different drugs, young people who use drugs di splay characteristics over historical time similar to those of young d rug users 20 years ago.