Regional methamphetamine use among U.S. Army personnel stationed in the continental United States and Hawaii: a six-year retrospective study (2000-2005)

Substance use disorders constitute a serious and persistent threat to military readiness and to the health and safety of military personnel and their families. Methamphetamine is among the most addictive and damaging of commonly abused drugs; this is of great concern for military health providers in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Military medicine 2008-04, Vol.173 (4), p.353-358
Main Authors: Lacy, Benjamin W, Ditzler, Thomas F, Wilson, Raymond S, Martin, Thomas M, Ochikubo, Jon T, Roussel, Robert R, Pizarro-Matos, Jose M, Vazquez, Raymond
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Cannabis
Cocaine - urine
Drug abuse
Drug dosages
Drug use
Epidemiology
Female
Hawaii - epidemiology
Humans
Hyperthermia
Male
Marijuana
Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine - urine
Military Medicine
Military Personnel
Organizational Policy
Pharmacists
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Substance abuse treatment
Substance-Related Disorders - complications
Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
United States - epidemiology
Urinalysis
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Summary:Substance use disorders constitute a serious and persistent threat to military readiness and to the health and safety of military personnel and their families. Methamphetamine is among the most addictive and damaging of commonly abused drugs; this is of great concern for military health providers in Hawaii due to the unusually high prevalence in the local community. The effect of regional drug use on active duty subpopulations has not been previously studied. This study includes a 6-year retrospective sample of laboratory-confirmed methamphetamine-, cocaine-, and marijuana-positive drug tests among Army soldiers stationed in Hawaii and western and eastern continental U.S. installations. The findings suggest that active duty members are significantly affected by the local drug climate. However, current military drug policies also deter use as evidenced by low absolute drug-positive rates even in regions of high civilian prevalence.
ISSN:0026-4075
1930-613X
DOI:10.7205/MILMED.173.4.353