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SpeedyCeus
Chapter 3. Substance Abuse Trends
(This chapter is divided up into multiple sub-chapters as a result of the length of the chapter.)
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides current trends of substance use and abuse through their reports on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Excerpts of this report are provided here. The report provides some very interesting material on various demographic aspects and frequency of substance abuse in the United States. The survey can be found at this site:
http://oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k7nsduh/2k7Results.cfm
1. Introduction
This report presents the first information from the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older. This initial report on the 2007 data presents national estimates of rates of use, numbers of users, and other measures related to illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products. Measures related to mental health problems also are presented, including data on depression and on the co-occurrence of substance use and mental health problems. Estimates from NSDUH for States and areas within States will be presented in separate reports.
A major focus of this report is a comparison of substance use prevalence estimates between 2006 and 2007. Trends since 2002 also are discussed for some measures. Because of improvements to the survey in 2002, the 2002 data constitute a new baseline for tracking trends in substance use and other measures. Therefore, estimates from the 2002 through 2007 NSDUHs should not be compared with estimates from the 2001 and earlier surveys in the series to assess changes in substance use and mental health problems over time.
2. Illicit Drug Use
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) obtains information on nine different categories of illicit drug use: use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and inhalants; and the nonmedical use of prescription-type pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives. In these categories, hashish is included with marijuana, and crack is considered a form of cocaine. Several drugs are grouped under the hallucinogens category, including LSD, PCP, peyote, mescaline, psilocybin mushrooms, and "Ecstasy" (MDMA). Inhalants include a variety of substances, such as nitrous oxide, amyl nitrite, cleaning fluids, gasoline, spray paint, other aerosol sprays, and glue. The four categories of prescription-type drugs (pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives) cover numerous medications available by prescription and drugs within these groupings that may be manufactured illegally, such as methamphetamine, which is included under stimulants. Respondents are asked to report only "nonmedical" use of these drugs, defined as use without a prescription of the individual's own or simply for the experience or feeling the drugs caused. Use of over-the-counter drugs and legitimate use of prescription drugs are not included. NSDUH reports combine the four prescription-type drug groups into a category referred to as "psychotherapeutics."
Estimates of "illicit drug use" reported from NSDUH reflect the use of any of the nine drug categories listed above. Use of alcohol and tobacco products, while illegal for youths, is not included in these estimates, but is discussed in Chapters 3 and 4.
This chapter includes revised estimates of the nonmedical use of prescription psychotherapeutic drugs and prescription stimulants that take into account data on methamphetamine use based on information obtained from survey items added to NSDUH in 2005, 2006, and 2007. The 2006 NSDUH national findings report incorporated revised estimates for methamphetamine use based on these additional items (Office of Applied Studies [OAS], 2007b), and this report extends the revisions to use of stimulants and any prescription psychotherapeutics. In a methodological study, these measures were found to be noticeably higher when the data from the additional methamphetamine use items were taken into account. Estimates for use of illicit drugs overall and use of illicit drugs other than marijuana, however, were affected only minimally by these methamphetamine use items and were not revised. See Section B.4.6 in Appendix B for more information on the results of this study.
The 2006 estimates for nonmedical use of stimulants and prescription psychotherapeutics in this report have been revised based on the additional questions on methamphetamine use, and statistical adjustments have been applied to the estimates from 2002 to 2005. These modifications control for the potentially confounding effects of the questionnaire changes and enable year-to-year comparisons to be made over the period from 2002 to 2007. Section B.4.6 in Appendix B provides a discussion of the revised measures and the procedures used to generate estimates based on them. Because of these changes, estimates for the nonmedical use of stimulants and psychotherapeutic drugs in this report are not comparable with corresponding estimates in previous NSDUH reports. Methamphetamine use estimates in this report also are not comparable with those in NSDUH reports for survey years prior to 2006.
- In 2007, an estimated 19.9 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview (Figure 2.1). This estimate represents 8.0 percent of the population aged 12 years old or older.
- The overall rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older in 2007 (8.0 percent) was similar to the rate in 2006 (8.3 percent) and has remained stable since 2002 (8.3 percent) (Figure 2.2).
Below are two bar graphs. Click here for the text describing these graphs.
Figure 2.1 Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older: 2007
1 Illicit Drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics used nonmedically.
Below is a line graph. Click here for the text describing this graph.
Figure 2.2 Past Month Use of Selected Illicit Drugs among Persons Aged 12 or Older: 2002-2007
+ Difference between this estimate and the 2007 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.
- Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug (14.4 million past month users). In 2007, marijuana was used by 72.8 percent of current illicit drug users and was the only drug used by 53.3 percent of them. Illicit drugs other than marijuana were used by 9.3 million persons or 46.7 percent of illicit drug users aged 12 or older. Current use of other drugs but not marijuana was reported by 27.2 percent of illicit drug users, and 19.4 percent used both marijuana and other drugs.
- Among persons aged 12 or older, the overall rate of past month marijuana use in 2007 (5.8 percent) was similar to the rate in 2006 and the rates in earlier years going back to 2002 (Figure 2.2).
- An estimated 9.3 million people aged 12 or older (3.7 percent) were current users of illicit drugs other than marijuana in 2007. Most (6.9 million persons, or 2.8 percent of the population) used psychotherapeutic drugs nonmedically. In addition to the estimated 5.2 million nonmedical users of pain relievers in 2007, 1.8 million used tranquilizers, 1.1 million used stimulants, and 346,000 used sedatives. The numbers of nonmedical users of pain relievers, tranquilizers, and sedatives in 2007 were similar to the corresponding numbers in 2006, and the percentage rates also remained stable (Figure 2.3). However, the number and percentage of nonmedical stimulant users decreased from 2006 to 2007.
Below is a line graph. Click here for the text describing this graph.
Figure 2.3 Past Month Nonmedical Use of Types of Psychotherapeutic Drugs among Persons Aged 12 or Older: 2002-2007
+ Difference between this estimate and the 2007 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.
- The estimated number and percentage of persons aged 12 or older who used cocaine in the past month in 2007 (2.1 million users or 0.8 percent of the population) were similar to those in 2006 (2.4 million or 1.0 percent) and 2002 (2.0 million or 0.9 percent). The number of past month crack users was also similar over this period (610,000 in 2007 vs. 702,000 in 2006 and 567,000 in 2002).
- Hallucinogens were used in the past month by 1.0 million persons aged 12 or older (0.4 percent) in 2007, including 503,000 (0.2 percent) who had used Ecstasy. These estimates are similar to the corresponding estimates for 2006. However, lifetime use of Ecstasy increased from 10.2 million persons (4.3 percent) in 2002 to 12.4 million (5.0 percent) in 2007, while past year use of Ecstasy decreased from 3.2 million (1.3 percent) to 2.1 million (0.9 percent) over the same period.
- The number of current heroin users decreased from 338,000 in 2006 to 153,000 in 2007, and the corresponding prevalence rate decreased from 0.14 to 0.06 percent.
- In both 2006 and 2007, an estimated 5.2 million persons aged 12 or older (2.1 percent in each year) were current nonmedical users of prescription pain relievers (Figure 2.3). This number was higher than the estimated 4.4 million in 2002, but the difference between the rates in 2002 and 2007 (1.9 and 2.1 percent, respectively) was not statistically significant. However, the rate was higher in 2007 (2.1 percent) than in 2004 (1.8 percent).
- In 2007, the estimated number of past month nonmedical users of stimulants aged 12 or older, 1.1 million, was lower than it had been in 2006 (1.4 million); the corresponding rates also showed a decline (from 0.6 percent in 2006 to 0.4 percent in 2007). These numbers for stimulants included 529,000 persons (0.2 percent) who were current users of methamphetamine in 2007, similar to the number and rate in 2006 (731,000 persons or 0.3 percent of the population). However, the estimated number of past year methamphetamine users declined from 1.9 million in 2006 to 1.3 million in 2007, and the corresponding rate declined from 0.8 to 0.5 percent.
Age
- In 2007, rates of past month illicit drug use varied with age. Through the adolescent years from 12 to 17, the rates of current illicit drug use increased from 3.3 percent at ages 12 or 13 to 8.9 percent at ages 14 or 15 to 16.0 percent at ages 16 or 17 (Figure 2.4). The highest rate was among persons aged 18 to 20 (21.6 percent). The rate was 18.5 percent among those aged 21 to 25, 12.8 percent among those aged 26 to 29, and 0.7 percent among those aged 65 or older.
Below is a bar graph. Click here for the text describing this graph.
Figure 2.4 Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Age: 2007
- Although adults aged 26 or older were less likely to be current drug users in 2007 than youths aged 12 to 17 or young adults aged 18 to 25 (5.8 vs. 9.5 and 19.7 percent, respectively), there were more drug users aged 26 or older (11.0 million) than in the 12-to-17-year age group (2.4 million) and 18-to-25-year age group (6.5 million) combined.
- Current illicit drug use remained stable from 2006 to 2007 among youths aged 12 to 17, young adults aged 18 to 25, and adults aged 26 or older. From 2002 to 2007, however, the rate of current illicit drug use among 12 to 17 year olds decreased from 11.6 to 9.5 percent (Figure 2.5).
Below is a line graph. Click here for the text describing this graph.
Figure 2.5 Past Month Use of Selected Illicit Drugs among Youths Aged 12 to 17: 2002-2007
+ Difference between this estimate and the 2007 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.
Youths Aged 12 to 17
- In 2007, 9.5 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 were current illicit drug users: 6.7 percent used marijuana, 3.3 percent engaged in nonmedical use of prescription-type psychotherapeutics, 1.2 percent used inhalants, 0.7 percent used hallucinogens, and 0.4 percent used cocaine.
- Among youths aged 12 to 17, the types of drugs used in the past month varied by age group. Among 12 or 13 year olds, 1.4 percent used prescription-type drugs nonmedically, 1.1 percent used inhalants, and 0.9 percent used marijuana. Among 14 or 15 year olds, marijuana was the most commonly used drug (5.7 percent), followed by prescription-type drugs used nonmedically (3.4 percent), and then inhalants (1.4 percent). Marijuana also was the most commonly used drug among 16 or 17 year olds (13.1 percent), followed by prescription-type drugs used nonmedically (4.9 percent), and then hallucinogens (1.2 percent), inhalants (1.0 percent), and cocaine (0.9 percent).
- Rates of current use remained stable from 2006 to 2007 among youths aged 12 to 17 for all drugs except use of heroin, which decreased from 0.06 to 0.01 percent, and nonmedical use of tranquilizers, which increased from 0.5 to 0.7 percent.
- From 2002 to 2007, rates of current use among youths aged 12 to 17 declined significantly for illicit drugs overall and for several specific drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, LSD, Ecstasy, prescription-type drugs used nonmedically, pain relievers, stimulants, methamphetamine, and the use of illicit drugs other than marijuana (Figure 2.5). For illicit drug use overall, the rates were 11.6 percent in 2002, 11.2 percent in 2003, 10.6 percent in 2004, 9.9 percent in 2005, 9.8 percent in 2006, and 9.5 percent in 2007.
- The rate of current marijuana use among youths aged 12 to 17 decreased from 8.2 percent in 2002 to 6.7 percent in 2007. Significant declines were also evident between 2002 and 2007 for past year marijuana use (from 15.8 to 12.5 percent) and lifetime marijuana use (from 20.6 to 16.2 percent).
- Current use of illicit drugs other than marijuana among 12 to 17 year olds declined from 5.7 percent in 2002 to 4.7 percent in 2007. Over the same period, past month nonmedical use of psychotherapeutic drugs decreased from 4.0 to 3.3 percent, nonmedical use of pain relievers declined from 3.2 to 2.7 percent, nonmedical use of stimulants decreased from 0.8 to 0.5 percent, and methamphetamine use declined from 0.3 to 0.1 percent. Youths' current use of hallucinogens declined from 1.0 percent in 2002 to 0.7 percent in 2007, reflecting decreases in current use of Ecstasy (from 0.5 to 0.3 percent) and LSD (from 0.2 to 0.1 percent).
Young Adults Aged 18 to 25
- Rates of current use of illicit drugs in 2007 were higher for young adults aged 18 to 25 (19.7 percent) than for youths aged 12 to 17 (9.5 percent) and adults aged 26 or older (5.8 percent). Among young adults, 16.4 percent used marijuana, 6.0 percent used prescription-type drugs nonmedically, 1.7 percent used cocaine, and 1.5 percent used hallucinogens (Figure 2.6).
Below is a line graph. Click here for the text describing this graph.
Figure 2.6 Past Month Use of Selected Illicit Drugs among Young Adults Aged 18 to 25: 2002-2007
+ Difference between this estimate and the 2007 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.
- From 2006 to 2007, current use of several illicit drugs declined among young adults aged 18 to 25. Use of cocaine decreased from 2.2 to 1.7 percent, Ecstasy use declined from 1.0 to 0.7 percent, stimulant use went from 1.4 to 1.1 percent, methamphetamine use declined from 0.6 to 0.4 percent, and use of illicit drugs other than marijuana decreased from 8.9 to 8.1 percent.
- From 2002 to 2007, the rate of current use of prescription pain relievers among young adults aged 18 to 25 increased from 4.1 to 4.6 percent. Past month use of hallucinogens overall decreased from 1.9 to 1.5 percent, and use of Ecstasy decreased from 1.1 to 0.7 percent; however, use of LSD increased from 0.1 to 0.2 percent. A decline also was seen in current use of methamphetamine (0.6 percent in 2002 vs. 0.4 percent in 2007).
Adults Aged 26 or Older
- Among adults aged 26 or older, 5.8 percent reported current illicit drug use in 2007. In this age group, 3.9 percent used marijuana and 2.2 percent used prescription-type drugs nonmedically. Less than 1 percent used cocaine (0.7 percent), hallucinogens (0.2 percent), heroin (0.1 percent), and inhalants (0.1 percent). The only significant change between 2006 and 2007 in the rates of past month use among adults in this age group involved heroin, which decreased from 0.14 to 0.05 percent. Lifetime use of marijuana among adults aged 26 or older increased from 40.6 percent in 2006 to 42.0 percent in 2007, while past year nonmedical use of stimulants declined from 1.0 to 0.8 percent and past year use of methamphetamine decreased from 0.6 to 0.4 percent.
- Among adults aged 50 to 59, the rate of current illicit drug use showed an irregular increasing trend between 2002 and 2007 (Figure 2.7). For those aged 50 to 54, the rate increased from 3.4 in 2002 to 6.0 percent in 2006, then ended at 5.7 percent in 2007, not significantly different from the rate in 2006. Among those aged 55 to 59, current illicit drug use also showed an irregular trend with an overall increase from 1.9 percent in 2002 to 4.1 percent in 2007. These patterns and trends may partially reflect the aging into these age groups of the baby boom cohort, whose lifetime rates of illicit drug use are higher than those of older cohorts.
Below is a line graph. Click here for the text describing this graph.
Figure 2.7 Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Adults Aged 50 to 59: 2002-2007
Gender
- In 2007, as in prior years, the rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older was higher for males than for females (10.4 vs. 5.8 percent, respectively). Males were about twice as likely as females to be past month marijuana users (8.0 vs. 3.8 percent). However, males and females had similar rates of past month use of tranquilizers (0.8 and 0.7 percent for males and females, respectively), stimulants (0.4 percent for males and 0.5 percent for females), methamphetamine (0.2 percent for both males and females), sedatives (0.2 percent for males and 0.1 percent for females), and OxyContin® (0.2 percent for males and 0.1 percent for females).
- From 2006 to 2007, the rate of current heroin use decreased from 0.06 to 0.02 percent among females aged 12 or older, and the rate of current nonmedical use of stimulants declined from 0.6 to 0.4 percent among males in that age group.
- Among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2007, males and females had similar rates of current use of illicit drugs (10.0 percent for males and 9.1 percent for females), cocaine (0.4 and 0.5 percent, respectively), crack (0.03 and 0.09 percent), hallucinogens (0.8 and 0.6 percent), and inhalants (1.2 and 1.1 percent). Rates also were similar for nonmedical use of prescription psychotherapeutic drugs (3.0 and 3.5 percent for males and females, respectively) and prescription pain relievers (2.5 and 2.8 percent). Current marijuana use, however, was more common among male youths (7.5 percent) than female youths (5.8 percent).
- Past month marijuana use among male youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 9.1 percent in 2002 to 6.8 percent in 2006. In 2007, the rate was 7.5 percent, which was not significantly different from the rate in 2006, but was lower than the rate in 2002 (Figure 2.8). Among female youths, little change occurred from 2002 to 2004, but the rate in 2007 (5.8 percent) was lower than the rate in 2002 (7.2 percent).
Below is a line graph. Click here for the text describing this graph.
Figure 2.8 Past Month Marijuana Use among Youths Aged 12 to 17, by Gender: 2002-2007
+ Difference between this estimate and the 2007 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.
Pregnant Women
- Among pregnant women aged 15 to 44 years, an average of 5.2 percent used illicit drugs in the past month based on combined 2006 and 2007 NSDUH data. This rate was significantly lower than the rate among women in that age group who were not pregnant (9.7 percent). Among pregnant women, the average rate of current illicit drug use did not change significantly between 2004-2005 (3.9 percent) and 2006-2007 (5.2 percent).
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The rate of current illicit drug use in the combined 2006-2007 data was lower for pregnant women than for nonpregnant women among those aged 18 to 25 (7.2 vs. 16.0 percent, respectively) and among those aged 26 to 44 (3.0 vs. 6.5 percent). Among women aged 15 to 17, however, those who were pregnant had a higher rate of use (22.6 percent) than those who were not pregnant (13.3 percent). For nonpregnant women aged 15 to 17, current illicit drug use decreased from 14.7 to 13.3 percent between 2004-2005 and 2006-2007.
Race/Ethnicity
- Current illicit drug use varied by race/ethnicity in 2007 among persons aged 12 or older, with the lowest rate among Asians (4.2 percent) (Figure 2.9). Rates were 12.6 percent for American Indians or Alaska Natives, 11.8 percent for persons reporting two or more races, 9.5 percent for blacks, 8.2 percent for whites, and 6.6 percent for Hispanics.
- There were no statistically significant changes between 2006 and 2007 in the rate of current illicit drug use for any racial/ethnic group among persons aged 12 or older.
Below is a bar graph. Click here for the text describing this graph.
Figure 2.9 Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Race/Ethnicity: 2007
Note: Due to low precision, the estimate for Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders is not shown.
Education
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Illicit drug use in 2007 varied by educational status. Among adults aged 18 or older, the rate of current illicit drug use was lower for college graduates (5.1 percent) than for those who did not graduate from high school (9.3 percent), high school graduates (8.6 percent), and those with some college (8.9 percent). However, adults who had graduated from college were more likely to have tried illicit drugs in their lifetime when compared with adults who had not completed high school (51.8 vs. 36.0 percent). Rates of current illicit drug use remained stable from 2006 to 2007 for each category of education among adults.
College Students
- Among persons aged 18 to 22 years old, the rate of current use of illicit drugs in 2007 was lower among full-time college students (19.8 percent) than among other persons in that age group (22.8 percent), which includes part-time college students, students in other grades, and nonstudents. Current illicit drug use among college students and other 18 to 22 year olds did not change between 2006 and 2007.
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Among full-time college students aged 18 to 22, there were declines from 2006 to 2007 in the current rate of use of hallucinogens (from 1.9 to 1.0 percent), Ecstasy (1.2 to 0.5 percent), and methamphetamine (0.3 to 0.1 percent). Among persons aged 18 to 22 who were not full-time college students, there were decreases in the rate of cocaine use (from 2.7 to 2.1 percent) and nonmedical use of stimulants (from 1.5 to 0.9 percent).
Employment
- Current illicit drug use differed by employment status in 2007. Among adults aged 18 or older, the rate of drug use was higher for unemployed persons (18.3 percent) than for those who were employed full time (8.4 percent) or part time (10.1 percent) (Figure 2.10). These rates were all similar to the corresponding rates in 2006.
elow are two bar graphs. Click here for the text describing these graphs.
Figure 2.10 Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Persons Aged 18 or Older, by Employment Status: 2007
1 The Other Employment category includes retired persons, disabled persons, homemakers, students, or other persons not in the labor force.
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Although the rate of past month illicit drug use was higher among unemployed persons compared with those from other employment groups, most drug users were employed. Of the estimated 17.4 million current illicit drug users aged 18 or older in 2007, 13.1 million (75.3 percent) were employed either full or part time.
Geographic Area
- Among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of current illicit drug use in 2007 was 9.3 percent in the West, 7.9 percent in the Midwest, 7.8 percent in the Northeast, and 7.4 percent in the South.
- Among youths aged 12 to 17, current marijuana use declined from 2002 to 2007 in each region, although the difference was not significant in the West. In the Northeast, marijuana use rates declined from 9.5 percent in 2002 to 7.2 percent in 2007. In the Midwest, the rate declined from 8.1 percent in 2002 to 6.9 percent in 2005 and remained stable through 2007. In the South, the rate decreased from 2002 to 2004 and then remained reasonably stable through 2007. In the West, the rate did not change significantly from 2002 through 2004 (8.0 percent in 2002, 8.7 percent in 2003, and 9.3 percent in 2004), but then declined to 6.8 percent in 2005 and remained around that level through 2007.
- In 2007, the rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older was higher in metropolitan areas than in nonmetropolitan areas. The rates were 8.3 percent in large metropolitan counties, 8.2 percent in small metropolitan counties, and 6.7 percent in nonmetropolitan counties as a group (Figure 2.11). Within nonmetropolitan areas, the rate was 7.5 percent in urbanized counties, 6.7 percent in less urbanized counties, and 4.1 percent in completely rural counties.
- The rate of current illicit drug use among the population aged 12 or older in completely rural counties in 2007 (4.1 percent) was lower than that observed in 2006 (7.8 percent).
Below is a bar graph. Click here for the text describing this graph.
Figure 2.11 Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by County Type: 2007
Criminal Justice Populations
- In 2007, there were an estimated 1.6 million adults aged 18 or older on parole or other supervised release from prison during the past year. Almost one fourth of these (24.1 percent) were current illicit drug users, higher than the 7.7 percent among adults not on parole or supervised release.
- Among the 5.1 million adults on probation at some time in the past year, 28.4 percent reported current illicit drug use in 2007. This was higher than the rate of 7.4 percent among adults not on probation in 2007.
Frequency of Use
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In 2007, an estimated 14.2 percent of past year marijuana users aged 12 or older used marijuana on 300 or more days within the past 12 months. This translates into 3.6 million using marijuana on a daily or almost daily basis over a 12-month period, higher than the estimate of 3.1 million (12.3 percent of past year users) in 2006. Among past month marijuana users aged 12 or older, 35.3 percent (5.1 million) used the drug on 20 or more days in the past month.
Association with Cigarette and Alcohol Use
- In 2007, the rate of current illicit drug use was almost 9 times higher among youths aged 12 to 17 who smoked cigarettes in the past month (47.3 percent) than it was among youths who did not smoke cigarettes in the past month (5.4 percent).
- Past month illicit drug use also was associated with the level of past month alcohol use. Among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2007 who were heavy drinkers (i.e., consumed five or more drinks on the same occasion on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days), 60.1 percent also were current illicit drug users, which was higher than the rate among nondrinkers (5.0 percent).
Driving Under the Influence of Illicit Drugs
- In 2007, 9.9 million persons aged 12 or older reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs during the past year. This corresponds to 4.0 percent of the population in that age group, similar to the rate in 2006 (4.2 percent), but lower than the rate in 2002 (4.7 percent). In 2007, the rate was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (12.5 percent).
Source of Prescription Drugs
- Past year nonmedical users of prescription-type psychotherapeutic drugs are asked how they obtained the drugs they recently used nonmedically. In both 2006 and 2007, over half of the nonmedical users of prescription-type pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives aged 12 or older said they got the drugs they used most recently "from a friend or relative for free." In a follow-up question, the majority of these respondents indicated that their friend or relative had obtained the drugs from one doctor.
- Among persons aged 12 or older in 2007 who used pain relievers nonmedically in the past 12 months, 56.5 percent said they got the pain relievers they most recently used from a friend or relative for free. Another 8.9 percent bought them from a friend or relative, and 5.2 percent reported stealing them from a friend or relative. Nearly one fifth (18.1 percent) indicated that they got the drugs from one doctor. Around 1 in 20 users (4.1 percent) got pain relievers from a drug dealer or other stranger, and 0.5 percent said they bought them on the Internet.
- In 81.0 percent of the cases in 2007 where nonmedical users of prescription pain relievers aged 12 or older obtained the drugs from a friend or relative for free, the individuals indicated that their friend or relative had obtained them from just one doctor. Only 1.8 percent reported that the friend or relative had bought the drugs from a drug dealer or other stranger.
- In 2007, 44.3 percent of past year methamphetamine users aged 12 or older reported that they obtained the methamphetamine they used most recently from a friend or relative for free. Another 30.4 percent bought it from a friend or relative. Around one in five users (19.8 percent) bought it from a drug dealer or other stranger.
In the next section the survey measures alcohol use.
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