Patterns of Drug Abuse Among Military Inductees
JOHN P. CALLAN M.D.1, and
CARROLL D. PATTERSON M.D.2
1 Director, Psychiatric Clinic, St. Francis Hospital, 114 Woodland St., Hartford, Conn. 06105
2 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Missouri Institute of Psychiatry, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.
A questionnaire concerning drug abuse was administered to 19,948 new military inductees over a six-month period. Almost one-third of the subjects had used drugs, but most were casual users. Marijuana and hashish were most frequently used. There were higher rates of use among college dropouts and men from unstable families, urban areas, and families with high incomes. There was little racial difference in overall drug use. However, non-whites used amphetamines, barbiturates, and heroin twice as much as whites, while whites tended to use marijuana, hashish, and hallucinogens.
