The Need for Standardized, Scientific Criteria for Describing Drug-Using Behavior

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Abstract
The need for scientific criteria which can be applied toward the development of standardized measures of human drug use is examined. Scientific criteria includes the dimensions by which the drug use of individuals or groups of individuals can be unambiguously defined. Each criterion should have the following characteristics: utility, objectivity and quantifiability. The utility of a criterion can be judged in terms of the development and testing of theory, the formulation and evaluation of social policy, and the diagnosis and treatment of problem drug use. Criteria should be developed with utility in each of the areas just described. The goal would be to develop minimum sets of criteria that will allow for efficient communication about the drug use of individuals or groups. Objectivity requires that different observers be in agreement regarding the veracity of an empirical event. As an example of the lack of objectivity in current drug use research, almost all instruments are based on the untested assumption that the respondents agree on what substances belong in the various drug categories (e.g., narcotics). The criteria developed must be objective in that different observers, by using these criteria, tend to describe the drug use of an individual or group in an identical manner. Quantification of criteria is essential for 2 reasons. First, numerical indices make it possible to report results in finer detail than is possible with relative terms such as more or less. A 2nd advantage is that it permits the use of more powerful mathematical analyses to assess the results of research.

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