ABSTRACT
There has been increasing awareness by governmental agencies and others that drug use and abuse among women may merit special study and treatment efforts (e.g., Ray & Braude, 1986). There are many reasons for increased attention to women's drug involvement. First is the concern that the use of some drugs is becoming more prevalent among women. Traditionally, men have been more likely to be cigarette smokers than women. Recently, however, smoking prevalence rates have been converging for the sexes (Fiore et al., 1989). There is also fear that alcohol use may be increasing among women, although this fear may be unfounded (see R. W. Wilsnack, S. C. Wilsnack, & Klassen, 1984). Second, there is mounting evidence that some variables may play different roles in the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of drug abuse in women and in men. For example, although both men and women benefit from social support when they attempt to maintain abstinence from cigarettes, the extent of the benefit they receive may differ (Ginsberg, Hall, & Rosinski, 1987). Third, the serious implications of women's drug use for children have become sadly evident in the transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the etiologic agent of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, from infected women drug abusers to their fetuses. They are also evident in the problems of children born to women who abuse crack cocaine, nicotine, alcohol, and other drugs prenatally. Lastly, women who abuse drugs, including alcohol, may be more likely to be victims of other social disturbances. Alcohol and other drug problems are implicated in homelessness in women (Basuk & Rosenberg, 1988) and in an increased possibility of a woman's being the recipient of violence (Blume, 1982).
