August 29, 2007 Cocaine Use Related to Level of Education
Achieved The decreased use of cocaine in the United States over
the last 20 years mostly occurred among the highly educated,
while cocaine use among non-high school graduates remained
constant, according to a study by researchers at the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study authors
suspect that the inverse relationship between cocaine use and
education is related to access to health warnings and resources.
They also concluded that the emerging disparity highlights the
need for improved interventions that target persistent cocaine
users who are lower educated. The study is published in the
October 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
“Much like smoking, people with a better understanding of the
impact cocaine has on health are more likely to modify their
behavior,” said Valerie S. Harder, MHS, lead author of the study
and a PhD-candidate in the Bloomberg School of Public Health’s
Department of Mental Health. “Better