The Pulse Check is conducted periodically by Dr. Dana Hunt of Abt Associates. The ethnographic and law enforcement sources are chosen to represent various areas of the country, and are generally the same for each round of calls. Treatment providers are drawn randomly from a national listing of small and large treatment programs. Thus, the Pulse Check provides a blend of information and perspectives on the state of drug abuse in America. The following sections present the findings of Pulse Check calls made in April, 1996.
Information is summarized in the text, and is presented in table form at the end of the report.
This issue also includes a special section on developments in the heroin trade.