Black-White Differences in Social Background and Military Drug Abuse Patterns

The authors gathered data on the drug abuse patterns and social backgrounds of 833 Navy enlisted men (764 white and 69 black) admitted to a drug rehabilitation center. Black subjects reported better school adjustment, less delinquency, and fewer difficulties in their home lives than did whites. They had used heroin more frequently than whites but were less involved with hallucinogenic drugs. The authors suggest that different cultural patterns may underlie the drug abuse behaviors of the two groups. White users seem to be expressing new varieties of delinquent or antisocial behavior, while blacks are following long-established subcultural patterns of drug use.