Identifying trends in outpatient substance abuse treatment for crack use/abuse: Revisiting the National Drug Abuse Treatment System Survey Study (NDATSS)

Research objectives Since the late 1980s, research examining this particular abuse has become more complex as both nationally and globally crack use/abuse has often been framed as an African American. problem in part resulting from the high volume of African Americans seeking treatment for illnesses resultant from their crack-cocaine use and an increasing crack-cocaine overdose rate. This paper explores specific factors to define the social, cultural, and economic realities of crack use in a sample of outpatient substance abuse treatment units.

Study Design Analyses for this study sought to investigate the relationship between a unit's reported percentage of crack use and several domains of covariates for outpatient substance abuse treatment units over a decade (1995-2005). The unit of analysis was an outpatient substance abuse treatment unit, which is defined as a physical facility with resources dedicated primarily to treating individuals with substance abuse problems (including alcohol and other drugs) on an ambulatory (non-residential) basis.

Principal Findings The multivariable results suggest that units with a majority of African American clients, conducting group therapy, a majority of unemployed clients, and the majority of clients reporting multiple drugs use are more likely to have a higher (above mean) level of crack use.

Conclusions The findings here suggest that the trends in crack use are highly associated with the economic climate. Therefore, identifying a level of predictability in crack use can help policy makers and treatment providers to act more preventively and reduce the racial disparity historically characteristic in crack use.