Age-specific patterns of hallucinogen use in the US population: an analysis using generalized additive models

Although there has been growing concern in recent years about an escalation in the use of LSD and other hallucinogens, little is known about the distribution of the use of these drugs in the United States population. In order to fill this gap, we used generalized additive models to analyze data from...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Drug and alcohol dependence 1996-12, Vol.43 (3), p.143-153
Main Authors: Chilcoat, Howard D., Schütz, Christian G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abuse
Addictive behaviors
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Age Differences
Age Factors
Age of Onset
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Cohort Analysis
Continental Population Groups
Drug addiction
Drug Use
Epidemiology
Hallucinogens
Humans
Incidence
Income
LSD
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Psychedelic Drugs
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Retrospective Studies
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
United States - epidemiology
United States of America
USA
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Summary:Although there has been growing concern in recent years about an escalation in the use of LSD and other hallucinogens, little is known about the distribution of the use of these drugs in the United States population. In order to fill this gap, we used generalized additive models to analyze data from the 1988, 1990, and 1992 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, to compare the age-specific prevalence of hallucinogen use by level of socio-economic indicators. In addition, we used survival analysis to compare patterns in the onset of use. Use of hallucinogens in the past year was highest at the age of 19 years for each of the NHSDA surveys, but use was not linked to enrollment in school at this age. Past year prevalence was highest among whites and respondents with high family income. The onset of hallucinogen use was most likely to occur between ages 15–19 years, regardless of birth cohort. These results indicate a stable pattern since hallucinogens were made widely available in the late 1960s, in which the transition from adolescence to adulthood has been the period of highest risk for hallucinogen use.
ISSN:0376-8716
1879-0046
DOI:10.1016/S0376-8716(96)01297-5