Assessing the Prevalence of Illicit Drug Use in the Army

A brief anonymous self-report questionnaire is developed to provide estimates of the prevalence and patterns of illicit drug use, as part of a larger effort to identify social and organizational factors in drug abuse in the Army.

Abstract

The Social Processes Technical Area of ARI has developed a brief anonymous self-report questionnaire to provide estimates of the prevalence and patterns of illicit drug use, as part of a larger effort to identify social and organizational factors in drug abuse in the Army. Random urinalysis (the basis of most official Army prevalence estimates) is a logical indicator of prevalence of drug abuse in a system in which most individuals must be identified to be cured; a questionnaire is an equally logical indicator of drug abuse as a complex social problem in which individuals vary their patterns and levels of drug use with circumstances. The questionnaire was administered March-June 1973 to personnel in TO/E units in the U.S., Germany, and Korea. Usable responses (71% of total responses) were returned from 17,141 enlisted men, E1-E5, from 398 units. The questionnaire indicated that 40% of the respondents had used marijuana within the previous month and 21% daily or every other day; 80% had used alcohol within the month and a third daily or every other day. Reported use of harder drugs within the month ranged from 15% (A) to 3% (M); reported daily or alternate-day use ranged from 2.4% (A) to 1% (M). Frequent use of hard drugs seems much less common than occasional use.