Drug use among American Indian (AI) youth
continues at higher levels than those found among
other youth. While the rates are higher, the patterns of
increases and decreases over the past 30-year period
have been similar, indicating that AI youth are part of
the larger adolescent culture. There is a set of secular
infl uences that aff ect the rates of drug use in both
groups in the same manner. The major implication of
these fi ndings is that eff ective interventions in non-AI
groups may also be eff ective among AI adolescents.
Intervention activities, however, must be adapted to
be culturally congruent. Despite rising concern over
methamphetamine use on reservations, the data
presented here indicate that, with the exception of two
points in time, the rates have not increased substantially
for AI youth who remain in school. School dropouts
and young adults/adults may be more vulnerable to the
abuse of methamphetamines and the rates of use may
be higher in these groups.