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Updated: Jun 17, 2026
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A Procedure to Study the Effect of Prolonged Food Restriction on Heroin Seeking in Abstinent Rats
Published on: November 11, 2013
Heroin use cannot be measured adequately with a general population survey
Peter Reuter1,2, Jonathan P Caulkins3, Greg Midgette1
1University of Maryland, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, College Park, MD, USA.
Addiction (Abingdon, England)
|March 2, 2021
Summary
General population surveys often underestimate the number of frequent heroin users due to issues like under-reporting and small sample sizes. Alternative estimation methods using multiple data sources are crucial for accurate drug use prevalence.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Substance Abuse Research
Background:
- Opioids, particularly heroin, are a leading cause of drug-related deaths and disability globally.
- Accurate estimation of problematic heroin users is vital for effective public health and criminal justice policies.
- General population surveys (GPS), like the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), are commonly used but have limitations for estimating illicit drug use.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the limitations of General Population Surveys (GPS) in estimating heroin use.
- To present an alternative estimation method for problematic heroin users.
- To discuss implications for policy and research regarding drug use prevalence estimation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of potential errors in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), including selective non-response, small sample size, sampling frame omissions, and under-reporting.
- Development and explanation of an alternative prevalence estimate using a variety of data sources, including a survey of adult male arrestees.
- Discussion of other approaches to prevalence estimation for illicit drug use.
Main Results:
- The study found that under-reporting and selective non-response in NSDUH likely lead to significant underestimation of heroin use.
- Small sample sizes in GPS result in imprecise estimates and volatile year-to-year fluctuations.
- An alternative estimation method provided credible evidence that NSDUH underestimates frequent heroin users by at least 75%.
Conclusions:
- General population surveys are inherently limited in accurately estimating rare, stigmatized behaviors like heroin use, especially in hard-to-track populations.
- Effective heroin use prevalence estimation requires models that integrate multiple data sources, including GPS.
- Researchers and journals should critically evaluate the reliability of GPS estimates for stigmatized drug use and consider alternative methodologies.
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