The issue focused on whether people with autism have higher rates of substance use. The study, published online April 11 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, compared data collected by researchers at four sites between 2008 and 2010. The researchers compared data collected during that time period with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institute on Drug Abuse. The data also analyzed how the rates of people diagnosed with autism differed across the study areas.

"We were surprised and excited when we discovered this difference in substance use,"