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This study focuses on race-specific gender differences In the use of drugs. Data were obtained from the 1995 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). The analysis examined race-specific gender differences in the ages of onset of drug use, the specific class of drug used first, and the pairs of drugs that groups report using. The analysis also was used to partially test whether the best fitting model that Kandel and associates found for female subjects In their sample also held in this cross-sectional sample and if the same model held across racespecific female groups. Data reveal that the average age of first use of specific drugs and the pair-wise comparisons of the age of initiation for the five classes of drugs differ by race/ethnicity. These data also reveal that the pathways of involvement in drugs presented by Kandel and associates, Model 1, with both alcohol and cigarettes preceding marijuana, was the best fitting model. The data further indicated that Mode/1 remained the best fitting across race-ethnic groups but repeatedly classified fewer women than Model 2.

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