Racial discrimination, socioeconomic position, and illicit drug use among US Blacks

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A recent paper published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology by Keyes, Fink and colleagues assesses the relationship between self-reported racial discrimination and illicit drug use among US Blacks and whether this association differs by socioeconomic position. Using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, racial discrimination in the past year was found to be associated with past-year drug use and with frequent drug use. For the outcome of frequent illicit drug use the association with racial discrimination was only observed among participants with incomes above 150% of the poverty line.  When socioeconomic status was measured as educational attainment the association between racial discrimination and frequent illicit drug use was strongest among those with more than a high school education.  The stronger association between racial discrimination and frequent illicit drug use among higher socioeconomic position Blacks suggests a complex interplay between disadvantaged and privileged statuses that merits further investigation.

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