THE PREVALENCE AND PROSPECTIVE PREDICTORS OF COCAINE USE AMONG A NATIONAL US SAMPLE OF YOUNG-ADULTS

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) were analyz ed to study the prevalence, mode of administration. and prospective pr edictors of cocaine use in young adulthood. Blacks tended to freebase cocaine more and snort less than their white and Hispanic counterparts . There was a three-fold increase in freebasing and injecting cocaine among recent users relative to those cocaine users who had last used c ocaine over four years ago. The longitudinal model of current cocaine use included statistically significant distal and proximal substance u se predictors (e.g., marijuana and alcohol use), a distal (eight year prior) delinquent activity predictor, and marital status predictors (n ever married and divorced). It was concluded that even if the prevalen ce of cocaine use is decreasing in the general population, the more da ngerous modes of administration by recent users poses a serious public health problem.