Prevention Works!

Survey Reports Youth Drug Use on the Decline

Recently released findings of the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) show that illicit drug use declined among young people age 12-17 from 1997 to 1998. Illicit drug use among the overall population remained flat. An estimated 9.9 percent of youths age 12-17 reported current illicit drug use in 1998, meaning they used an illicit drug at least once during the 30 days prior to the time of the survey interview. This estimate represents a decrease from the estimate of 11.4 percent in 1997.

"For the past two years we have been cautiously optimistic as a series of encouraging reports seemed to indicate a leveling off and even a possible decline in drug use among teens after years of dramatic increases," said HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala. "While it looks like we have turned the corner with today’s report, we must not rest. Too many young people are still using drugs, and we must continue to build on our promising efforts to push the rate of drug use down even further."

1998 survey highlights include:

• Teen use of inhalants decreased significantly from 2.0 percent in 1997 to 1.1 percent in 1998.
• In 1998, an estimated 13.6 million Americans overall (6.2 percent of the U.S. population age 12 and older) were current users of illicit drugs. The 1997 estimate was 13.9 million. The number of current illicit drug users is about half its peak in 1979, when there were 25 million current users.
• The rate of youth reporting they tried marijuana for the first time declined significantly and the average age of first-time use went up. The percentage of teenagers who were current users of marijuana declined from 9.4 percent in 1997 to 8.3 percent in 1998.
• Marijuana continues to be the most frequently used illicit drug; about 60 percent of all illicit drug users reported using marijuana only, and another 21 percent reported marijuana use and some other illicit drug use.
• The current rate of smoking among young adults age 18-25 has increased from 34.6 percent in 1994 to 40.6 percent in 1997 and 41.6 percent in 1998.
• An estimated 2.1 million people began smoking cigarettes daily in 1997, the most recent year available. More than half of these new smokers were younger than age 18, which translates to more than 3,000 new youth smokers each day.
• An estimated 1.8 million (0.8 percent) Americans age 12 and older were current users of cocaine in 1998. The estimate was 1.5 million (0.7 percent) in 1997 but the difference is not statistically significant. Cocaine use reached a peak of 5.7 million (3.0 percent) in 1985.
• 113 million Americans (52 percent of the population) age 12 and older reported current use of alcohol, meaning they used alcohol at least once during the 30 days prior to the interview. About 33 million of this group engaged in binge drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion during that 30-day period), and 12 million were heavy drinkers (five or more drinks on one occasion five or more days during the past 30 days). The percentages of the population falling into these different groups have not changed since 1988.
• Drug use was higher among youths who were currently using cigarettes and alcohol, compared with youths not using these substances. Youths age 12-17 who currently smoked cigarettes were 11.4 times more likely to use illicit drugs and 16 times more likely to drink heavily than nonsmoking youths.
• The NHSDA provides annual estimates of the prevalence of illicit drug, alcohol, and tobacco use in the U.S. and monitors the trends in use over time. It is based on a representative sample of the U.S. population age 12 and older, including persons living in households and in some group quarters such as dormitories and homeless shelters. In 1998, a sample of 25,500 persons was interviewed for the survey.

Summary Findings from the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse is retrievable from SAMHSA's Internet Web site at http://www.samhsa.gov, or a hard copy may be obtained free of charge by calling SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800-729-6686.

To receive a complimentary copy of this PreventionAlert, call SAMSHA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) @ 1-800-729-6686, TDD 1-800-487-4889 (for the hearing impaired.) PREVENTIONAlert is supported by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and may be copied without permission with appropriate citation. For information about PREVENTIONAlert, please contact CSAP by phone (301) 443-0581 or e-mail gensley@samhsa.gov

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