Measuring Cocaine Use by Hair Analysis among Criminally-Involved Youth

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Abstract
The study examined the utility of hair analysis for determining the prevalence of cocaine use in a high-risk population. Personal interviews and scalp hair specimens were obtained from 121 male youths who had been in jail in New York City and were followed-up in the community after their release. Using the standard cutoff, 51% of the hair specimens were classified positive for cocaine at a mean concentration of 87.6 nanograms per 10 milligrams of hair. Using the detection limit of the test, 67% were positive for cocaine. Only 23% of the youths reported any use of cocaine or crack during the previous 3 months and only 36% reported any lifetime use, indicating a substantial rate of underreporting. Associations were found between cocaine in hair and several behavioral variables: number of prior arrests (p=.08, trend), rearrest after release from jail (p<.05), not continuing education (p<.01), and no legal employment (p<.01). Hair analysis is a promising new epidemiological tool for obtaining more valid measures of illicit drug use in difficult-to-study populations.