Multiple drug abuse: examination of drug-abuse patterns in male prisoners.

Preincarceration drug-use patterns were investigated retrospectively in 58 male prisoners, average age 18.6 years, of whom 50% were White, 43% Black, and 7% Hispanic. Fifty-five percent were classified as drug-dependent, 36% as regular, and 9% as casual users of at least one drug. Classification according to numbers of "hard" drugs used regularly gave equal percentages of subjects using none, one to two, or more than two (polydrug users). The polydrug users were predominantly White and often used amphetamines or hallucinogens, while those using one to two "hard" drugs regularly were predominantly Black, eschewed hallucinogens, and preferred narcotics.