Monday, April 27, 2009

Hispanic teens have higher rates of drug use: I ran across this 2008 Indiana study of teen drug use. I don't see sample size, but most of the racial/ethnic comparisons are significantly different at the 0.05 level. I compared the first 290 pairs of estimates for whites and Hispanics (then got tired). Hispanic teens had higher prevalence rates 274 times; estimates were the same for the two groups 7 times; and whites were higher 9 times. Almost all the higher rates for whites were for smokeless tobacco. Rednecks who like to chew.

Hispanic teens had higher rates for the following:

Cigarettes
Cigars
Pipes
Alcohol
Marijuana
Cocaine
Crack
Inhalants
Amphetamines
Meth
Ritalin/Adderall
Tranquilizers
Narcotics
Psychodelics
LSD
Others
Heroin
Steroids
Injected drugs
MDMA
Rohypnol
GHB
Over the counter drugs

Well over half of gangbangers are now Hispanic, so perhaps it's not surprising that their involvement with drugs is extensive.

I also compared blacks and Hispanics on all estimates of crack. In all cases, prevalence is higher for Hispanics, and the difference is large. Stereotypically speaking, crackheads are not black, they're brown.

This survey shows that the drug problem among Latinos is not confined to the coasts. It's the same in the heartland.

2 comments:

  1. I thought gangbangers didn't use, they just sold. I guess, though, you sell it in your own community.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The meth stereotype may be due to the fact it's usually cooked in rural areas (where the wrong kind of white people live) because it has a pungent aroma that's difficult to conceal. I agree, though. All the warning ads you see for meth feature Caucasians.

    ReplyDelete

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