In response to "The Changing Pattern of Substance Abuse in Urban Adolescents"1 in the March 1998 ARCHIVES, several points should be considered. The authors do not use any self-reported data, stating that it is their "experience that such historical self-reports are not totally accurate." However, without survey of the subjects, there are few conclusions to be made, and certainly no major conclusions regarding the pattern of substance abuse should be drawn based on these data.