TCADA has published a report looking at substance use among youth with high rates of absenteeism.  This report, based on the 1998 Texas school survey, found high risk & dropping out was strongly associated with increased likelihood of substance use and substance-related social problems.

Full Report

Substance Use Among Male Inmates Entering the Texas Department of Criminal Justice -- Institutional Division: 1998

The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse has released the executive summary of the results of its survey of male prisoners in the state's Institutional Division facilities. Some 782 incoming inmates were surveyed about their use of alcohol and other drugs, their criminal history, their history of substance abuse treatment, their motivation for treatment, their family and peer relations, their physical and mental health, and their gambling behaviors. This new report finds:

•  86 percent of inmates used an illicit drug in their lifetime, and 36 percent used in their last month on the street.
•  57 percent of inmates had ever used powder cocaine and 34 percent had ever used crack cocaine.
•  Inmates were more than five times more likely to have ever used powder cocaine and 18 times more likely to have ever used heroin than non-incarcerated Texas men.
•  46 percent of male prisoners were dependent on substances and needed treatment when they entered treatment.