Marshall Poe
Marshall Poe
Joseph Gfroerer, "War Stories from the Drug Survey: How Culture, Politics, and Statistics Shaped the National Survey on Drug Use and Health" (Cambridge UP, 2018)
Joseph Gfroerer, "War Stories from the Drug Survey: How Culture, Politics, and Statistics Shaped the National Survey on Drug Use and Health" (Cambridge UP, 2018)
Joseph Gfroerer, "War Stories from the Drug Survey: How Culture, Politics, and Statistics Shaped the National Survey on Drug Use and Health" (Cambridge UP, 2018)
Friday 2nd July 2021
Joseph Gfroerer discusses leading America's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, highlighting its evolution and cultural and political influences.
57 minutes
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Marshall Poe
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Understanding Addiction & Recovery
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Get the buttons here!Behind the Numbers: The Story of America's Drug Use Survey
The survey is underused and if it could be made more accessible the data files for researchers to analyze, I think it would create a lot of good research.
Ever wondered how America's drug use statistics come to life? In this engaging episode of 'New Books in Drugs, Addiction and Recovery', Joseph Gfroerer takes us on a journey through his nearly four-decade career as a statistician for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Leading the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) since 1988, Gfroerer shares his unique perspective on how culture, politics, and methodology have shaped one of the federal government’s most critical health surveys. Gfroerer, with a background in statistics from the University of Buffalo and experience at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), discusses how his early career prepared him for the complexities of the NSDUH.
He recounts the evolution of the survey, which began as the National Survey on Drug Abuse in 1971, detailing its transformation in response to changing drug landscapes and political pressures. From self-administered answer sheets to sophisticated computerized interviews, Gfroerer highlights the technological advancements that have improved data accuracy over the years. The episode delves into the influence of cultural and political factors on the survey's design, including instances where politicians pushed for specific questions to be included.
Gfroerer also touches on the challenges of keeping up with emerging drugs like crack cocaine in the early '80s and the subsequent expansion of the survey to cover a broader range of substances. A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the use and misuse of survey data. Gfroerer explains how data has sometimes been selectively used for political agendas and emphasizes the untapped potential of making this data more accessible to researchers.
He believes that greater accessibility could spur valuable research and provide deeper insights into drug use trends in America. For anyone interested in understanding the intricate details behind America's drug use statistics, this episode offers a compelling narrative filled with professional anecdotes and expert insights. Tune in to hear Gfroerer's thoughts on the future of the NSDUH and how it might continue to evolve.