The ability of a user to access a given type of drug is related to the configuration of the market for that drug, and a range of economic and criminal justice concerns. This study focuses on Nebraskan’s “ready access” to four types of drugs (marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin, and prescription pills) in 2016, using a statewide survey of housed Nebraskan adults. Ready access is defined as a participant knowing at least one person from whom they could obtain a given type of drug if they wanted to. We found that 35% of adult Nebraskans knew at least one person from whom they could obtain marijuana, 8.9% for methamphetamine, 4.5% for heroin, and 17.8% knew at least one source for prescription pills. Relationships between knowing a source for each type of drug and rurality, sex, race, religious attendance, mental health symptoms, and education are explored.
AminiN.AleaghaA. E.AkhgariM. (2015). Impurity profiling of street methamphetamine samples seized in Kermanshah, Iran with special focus on methamphetamine impurities health hazards. Journal of Clinical Toxicology, 5, 258. doi:10.4172/2161-0495.1000258
4.
BensonJ. S.DeckerS. H. (2010). The organizational structure of international drug smuggling. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 130-138.
5.
BonelliR. M.KoenigH. G. (2013). Mental disorders, religion and spirituality 1990 to 2010: A systematic evidence-based review. Journal of Religion and Health, 52, 657-673. doi:10.1007/s10943-013-9691-4
6.
BrechtM.-L.O’BrienA.von MayrhauserC.AnglinM. D. (2004). Methamphetamine use behaviors and gender differences. Addictive Behaviors, 29, 89-106. doi:10.1016/S0306-4603(03)00082-0
CaulkinsJ. P.PaculaR. L. (2006). Marijuana markets: Inferences from reports by the household population. Journal of Drug Issues, 36, 173-200. doi:10.1177/002204260603600108
9.
Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2017). 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed tables. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
10.
ChenP.JacobsonK. C. (2012). Developmental trajectories of substance use from early adolescence to young adulthood: Gender and racial/ethnic differences. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50, 154-163. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.05.013
11.
ChitwoodD. D.WeissM. L.LeukefeldC. G. (2008). A systematic review of recent literature on religiosity and substance use. Journal of Drug Issues, 38, 653-688. doi:10.1177/002204260803800302
12.
CiceroT. J.EllisM. S.SurrattH. L.KurtzS. P. (2014). The changing face of heroin use in the United States: A retrospective analysis of the past 50 years. JAMA Psychiatry, 71, 821-826. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.366
13.
CiceroT. J.SurrattH.InciardiJ. A.MunozA. (2007). Relationship between therapeutic use and abuse of opioid analgesics in rural, suburban, and urban locations in the United States. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 16, 827-840. doi:10.1002/pds.1452
14.
ComptonW. M.ConwayK. P.StinsonF. S.GrantB. F. (2006). Changes in the prevalence of major depression and comorbid substance use disorders in the United States between 1991–1992 and 2001–2002. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 2141-2147. doi:10.1176/ajp.2006.163.12.2141
15.
CurtisR.FriedmanS. R.NeaigusA.JoseB.GoldsteinM.IldefonsoG. (1995). Street-level drug markets: Network structure and HIV risk. Social Networks, 17, 229-249. doi:10.1016/0378-8733(95)00264-O
16.
CurtisR.WendelT. (2000). Toward the development of a typology of illegal drug markets. Crime Prevention Studies, 11, 121-152.
17.
CurtisR.WendelT. (2007). “You’re always training the dog”:1 strategic interventions to reconfigure drug markets. Journal of Drug Issues, 37, 867-891. doi:10.1177/002204260703700407
18.
DarkeS.KayeS.McKetinR.DuflouJ. (2008). Major physical and psychological harms of methamphetamine use. Drug and Alcohol Review, 27, 253-262. doi:10.1080/09595230801923702
19.
DavenportS. S.CaulkinsJ. P. (2016). Evolution of the United States Marijuana market in the decade of liberalization before full legalization. Journal of Drug Issues, 46, 411-427. doi:10.1177/0022042616659759
DrausP. J.CarlsonR. G. (2006). Needles in the haystacks: The social context of initiation to heroin injection in rural Ohio. Substance Use & Misuse, 41, 1111-1124. doi:10.1080/10826080500411577
22.
FaganJ. (1989). The social organization of drug use and drug dealing among urban gangs. Criminology, 27, 633-670.
23.
FarringtonD. P. (1986). Age and crime. Crime and Justice, 7, 189-250.
24.
FreisthlerB.LascalaE. A.GruenewaldP. J.TrenoA. J. (2005). An examination of drug activity: Effects of neighborhood social organization on the development of drug distribution systems. Substance Use & Misuse, 40, 671-686. https://doi.org/10.1081/JA-200055373
25.
GazianoC. (2005). Comparative analysis of within-household respondent selection techniques. Public Opinion Quarterly, 69, 124-157. doi:10.1093/poq/nfi006
26.
GfroererJ. C.LarsonS. L.ColliverJ. D. (2007). Drug use patterns and trends in rural communities. The Journal of Rural Health, 23, 10-15. doi:10.1111/j.1748-0361.2007.00118.x
27.
GonzalesR.MooneyL.RawsonR. (2010). The methamphetamine problem in the United States. Annual Review of Public Health, 31, 385-398. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.012809.103600
28.
GrantB. F.DawsonD. A.StinsonF. S.ChouS. P.DufourM. C.PickeringR. P. (2004). The 12-month prevalence and trends in DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: United States, 1991–1992 and 2001–2002. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 74, 223-234. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2004.02.004
29.
HallW. (2017). Alcohol and cannabis: Comparing their adverse health effects and regulatory regimes. The International Journal of Drug Policy, 42, 57-62. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.10.021
30.
HallW.LynskeyM. (2016). Evaluating the public health impacts of legalizing recreational cannabis use in the United States. Addiction, 111, 1764-1773. doi:10.1111/add.13428
31.
HasinD. S.SahaT. D.KerridgeB. T.GoldsteinR. B.ChouS. P.ZhangH.. . . GrantB. F. (2015). Prevalence of Marijuana use disorders in the United States between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013. JAMA Psychiatry, 72, 1235-1242. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.1858
32.
HavensJ. R.YoungA. M.HavensC. E. (2011). Nonmedical prescription drug use in a nationally representative sample of adolescents: Evidence of greater use among rural adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 165, 250-255. doi:10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.217
33.
JinksM. J.RaschkoR. R. (1990). A profile of alcohol and prescription drug abuse in a high-risk community-based elderly population. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 24, 971-975. doi:10.1177/106002809002401012
34.
JohnsonB. D. (2003). Patterns of drug distribution: Implications and issues. Substance Use & Misuse, 38, 1789-1806. doi:10.1081/JA-120024241
35.
JonasA. B.YoungA. M.OserC. B.LeukefeldC. G.HavensJ. R. (2012). OxyContin® as currency: OxyContin® use and increased social capital among rural Appalachian drug users. Social Science & Medicine, 74, 1602-1609. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.12.053
36.
JonesC. M. (2013). Heroin use and heroin use risk behaviors among nonmedical users of prescription opioid pain relievers—United States, 2002–2004 and 2008–2010. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 132, 95-100. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.01.007
37.
KendlerK. S.LiuX.-Q.GardnerC. O.McCulloughM. E.LarsonD.PrescottC. A. (2003). Dimensions of religiosity and their relationship to lifetime psychiatric and substance use disorders. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 496-503. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.160.3.496
38.
KhantzianE. J. (1985). The self-medication hypothesis of addictive disorders: Focus on heroin and cocaine dependence. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 1259-1264.
39.
KhantzianE. J. (2003). Understanding addictive vulnerability: An evolving psychodynamic perspective. Neuropsychoanalysis, 5(1), 5-21. doi:10.1080/15294145.2003.10773403
40.
KlermanG. L.LeonA. C.WickramaratneP.WarshawM. G.MuellerT. I.WeissmanM. M.AkiskalH. (1996). The role of drug and alcohol abuse in recent increases in depression in the US. Psychological Medicine, 26, 343-351.
LichterD. T.BrownD. L. (2011). Rural America in an urban society: Changing spatial and social boundaries. Annual Review of Sociology, 37, 565-592. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150208
43.
LineberryT. W.BostwickJ. M. (2006). Methamphetamine abuse: A perfect storm of complications. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 81, 77-84. doi:10.4065/81.1.77
44.
LivingstonM. D.BarnettT. E.DelcherC.WagenaarA. C. (2017). Recreational cannabis legalization and opioid-related deaths in Colorado, 2000–2015. American Journal of Public Health, 107, 1827-1829. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.304059
45.
MarsS. G.FesselJ. N.BourgoisP.MonteroF.KarandinosG.CiccaroneD. (2015). Heroin-related overdose: The unexplored influences of markets, marketing and source-types in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 140, 44-53.
46.
MaxwellJ. C. (2011). The prescription drug epidemic in the United States: A perfect storm. Drug and Alcohol Review, 30, 264-270. doi:10.1111/j.1465-3362.2011.00291.x
47.
McCabeS. E.BoydC. J. (2005). Sources of prescription drugs for illicit use. Addictive Behaviors, 30, 1342-1350. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.01.012
48.
McCabeS. E.CranfordJ. A.WestB. T. (2008). Trends in prescription drug abuse and dependence, co-occurrence with other substance use disorders, and treatment utilization: Results from two national surveys. Addictive Behaviors, 33, 1297-1305. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2008.06.005
49.
McCabeS. E.MoralesM.CranfordJ. A.DelvaJ.McPhersonM. D.BoydC. J. (2007). Race/ethnicity and gender differences in drug use and abuse among college students. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 6, 75-95. doi:10.1300/J233v06n02_06
50.
MillerL.DaviesM.GreenwaldS. (2000). Religiosity and substance use and abuse among adolescents in the National Comorbidity Survey. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 1190-1197. doi:10.1097/00004583-200009000-00020
51.
NatarajanM.ZanellaM.YuC. (2015). Classifying the variety of drug trafficking organizations. Journal of Drug Issues, 45, 409-430.
52.
PaculaR. L.SmartR. (2017). Medical Marijuana and Marijuana legalization. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 13, 397-419. doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032816-045128
53.
PaulozziL. J.XiY. (2008). Recent changes in drug poisoning mortality in the United States by urban–rural status and by drug type. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, 17, 997-1005. doi:10.1002/pds.1626
54.
PetersP. J.PontonesP.HooverK. W.PatelM. R.GalangR. R.ShieldsJ.. . . DuwveJ. M. (2016). HIV infection linked to injection use of oxymorphone in Indiana, 2014–2015. New England Journal of Medicine, 375, 229-239. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1515195
55.
RadloffL. S. (1977). The CES-D scale a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.
56.
RitterA. (2006). Studying illicit drug markets: Disciplinary contributions. International Journal of Drug Policy, 17, 453-463.
57.
Salas-WrightC. P.VaughnM. G.HodgeD. R.PerronB. E. (2012). Religiosity profiles of American youth in relation to substance use, violence, and delinquency. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 1560-1575. doi:10.1007/s10964-012-9761-z
58.
SampsonR. J.LaubJ. H. (2003). Life-course desisters? Trajectories of crime among delinquent boys followed to age 70*. Criminology, 41, 555-592. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2003.tb00997.x
59.
SchuckitM. A. (1977). Geriatric alcoholism and drug abuse. The Gerontologist, 17, 168-174. doi:10.1093/geront/17.2.168
60.
Simoni-WastilaL. (2004). The use of abusable prescription drugs: The role of gender. Journal of Women’s Health & Gender-based Medicine, 9, 289-297.
61.
Simoni-WastilaL.RitterG.StricklerG. (2004). Gender and other factors associated with the nonmedical use of abusable prescription drugs. Substance Use & Misuse, 39(1), 1-23.
SommersI.BaskinD.Baskin-SommersA. (2006). Methamphetamine use among young adults: Health and social consequences. Addictive Behaviors, 31, 1469-1476. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.10.004
64.
SpuntB. (2003). The current New York City heroin scene. Substance Use & Misuse, 38, 1539-1549.
65.
StorrC. L.ChenC.-Y.AnthonyJ. C. (2004). “Unequal opportunity”: Neighbourhood disadvantage and the chance to buy illegal drugs. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 58, 231-237. doi:10.1136/jech.2003.007575
WallaceJ. M.BachmanJ. G.O’MalleyP. M.JohnstonL. D.SchulenbergJ. E.CooperS. M. (2002). Tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use: Racial and ethnic differences among U.S. high school seniors, 1976-2000. Public Health Reports, 117(Suppl. 1), S67-S75.
71.
WallaceJ. M.BachmanJ. G.O’MalleyP. M.SchulenbergJ. E.CooperS. M.JohnstonL. D. (2003). Gender and ethnic differences in smoking, drinking and illicit drug use among American 8th, 10th and 12th grade students, 1976–2000. Addiction, 98, 225-234. doi:10.1046/j.1360-0443.2003.00282.x
72.
WarrenJ. C.SmalleyK. B.BarefootK. N. (2015). Perceived ease of access to alcohol, tobacco and other substances in rural and urban US students. Rural and Remote Health, 15(4), 3397.
73.
WeisburdD.GreenL. (1995). Policing drug hot spots: The Jersey City drug market analysis experiment. Justice Quarterly, 12, 711-735.
74.
WendelT.CurtisR. (2000). The heraldry of heroin: “Dope stamps” and the dynamics of drug markets in New York City. Journal of Drug Issues, 30, 225-259.
