An important and interesting topic that could definitely use solid (professional) journalistic treatment. Some suggestions, in that vein: (1) The tech sector

An important and interesting topic that could definitely use solid (professional) journalistic treatment. Some suggestions, in that vein: (1) The tech sector is quite different from other white collar sectors -- and I gather you'll find their usage profiles to be quite different, also. So really, drug use in the tech sector deserves to be a story (or a series) all its own. (2) Within tech, there's always been a huge divide between the engineering and business sides (they're almost from different planets, in some respects). So basically we're talking about completely separate analyses for these groups. (3) You may want to completely exclude the Wall Street crowd from your surveys as well -- or at least be careful to note it as a distinct subclass. They're also something of a culture apart from the rest of tech, so if you put to much focus on them, your research will definitely be skewed. (4) My own observation from the engineering crowd (over many years and having lived in various geographic areas) suggests that the use of normalized (or "mostly normalized") substances (alcohol, marijuana, caffeine, "smart drinks" / herbal stimulants, psychedelics (and ecstasy) and very rarely, low-grade amphetamines) is probably about what you'll find in any high-skill, sometimes stressful line of work. Perhaps alcohol and caffeine are used a bit more, and marijuana a bit less (except in places where it's been legalized or effectively legalized). (4b) Added qualification that psychedelic use seems quite rare outside the Bay Area, but I could be wrong. (5) Use of harder substances (cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin) on the other hand appears to be exceedingly rare among engineering types -- for the simple reason that they're effects are fundamentally incompatible with the "head space" geeks need to be in 24x7 to be even remotely capable of doing the work they do. I'm not saying there are no heavy users or tales of abuse among engineers - of course they are. But if anything the general rate of incidence is probably distinctly less than that of other white-collar professions. (6) Finally, by far the most serious substance problem in the industry is alcohol. This has definitely changed over the years, and a serious examination of the reasons behind this shift would also be quite welcome.