The struggle to maintain accurate data on the prevalence of opioid abuse
In a new study published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse by researchers at New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research ( CDUHR ), lead researcher Joseph J. Palamar, PhD, MPH and his team sought to describe differences in self-reporting of nonmedical opioid use among high school seniors, who were asked about both general nonmedical opioid use and also specifically about nonmedical Vicodin and OxyContin use. The data was drawn from the Monitoring the Future ( MTF ) survey, a nationwide ongoing annual study of the behaviors, attitudes, and values of American secondary school students. The MTF survey is administered in approximately 130 public and private schools throughout 48 states in the US. Roughly 15,000 high school seniors are assessed annually. The results were not always clear-cut. "If someone checks off that they haven't used opioids you'd expect them to check off 'no' to nonmedical use of Vicodin and OxyContin l...