In 1996, DUF program sites located in 23 major metropolitan areas collected data from 19,835 adult male arrestees, 7,532 adult female arrestees, and 4,145 juvenile male arrestees. Marijuana use among adult males increased at almost every site over 1995, while 12 sites showed decreased percentages of adult males testing positive for cocaine. Opiate positives among adult males remained low relative to cocaine and marijuana. The percentage of adult females testing positive for marijuana increased between 1995 and 1996, and adult females exhibited higher prevalence rates for cocaine use than adult males. Opiate use among adult females remained stable or increased slightly. Among male juveniles, marijuana use rose sharply and cocaine use increased slightly; cocaine use was much higher for boys out of school than for boys in school. In general, marijuana appeared to have replaced cocaine as the drug of choice among arrestees. The consistently large fraction of individuals testing positive for drugs at the time of arrest and substantial local variations in drug use patterns suggested that the point of arrest is an appropriate stage of intervention with respect to addressing substance abuse and that communities can benefit from having local knowledge about substance abuse patterns among their arrestees. Tables and figures
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