Drug Use Estimates: Prevalence and Trends
Tables:
- Estimated Prevalence of Past-Month Substance Use in US by Those Aged 12 and Older
- Prevalence of Marijuana Use among People in the US Aged 12 or Older
- Estimated 30-Day Prevalence of Use of Various Drugs for Grades 8, 10, and 12 Combined
Page last updated Jan. 5, 2021 by Doug McVay, Editor.
81. Chronic Substance Use and Employment "In conclusion, this study found that chronic drug use was significantly related to employment status for men and women. On the other hand, male chronic drug users were less likely to participate in the labor force, but no significant relationship existed between chronic drug use and labor force participation for females. Perhaps the most important finding of this study, however, was the lack of any significant relationships between nonchronic drug use, employment, and labor force participation. An implication of this finding is that employers and policy makers should focus on problematic drug users in the same way that they focus on problematic alcohol users." French, Michael T., M. Christopher Roebuck, and Pierre Kebreau Alexandre, "Illicit Drug Use, Employment, and Labor Force Participation," Southern Economic Journal (Southern Economic Association: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 2001), 68(2), p. 366. |
82. Progression of Drug Use Among Young Adults in Large Cities in the US "In conclusion, patterns of prescription drug misuse among high-risk young adults in LA and NY appear to conform to and be shaped by differences in local markets for illicit drugs in each city. Our findings indicate that current misuse of prescription drugs in both cities encompasses a broad range of practices, such as sniffing, injecting, polydrug use, and drug substitution, and involves frequent misuse of illicit substances. Initiation into prescription drug misuse was often preceded by being prescribed one or more types of prescription drugs, which was then followed by initiating illicit drugs with similar psychotropic effects." Lankenau, Stephen E.; Schrager, Sheree M.; Silva, Karol; Kecojevic, Alex; Bloom, Jennifer Jackson; Wong, Carolyn; and Iverson, Ellen, "Misuse of prescription and illicit drugs among high-risk young adults in Los Angeles and New York," Journal of Public Health Research (Pravia, Italy: February 14, 2012) Vol 1, No 1, p. 29. |
83. Alcohol and Other Drug Use and Employment
"There were little or no differences in the probability of employment by lifetime alcohol and drug use patterns. Men who had an alcohol disorder at some point in their life were equally likely as men who had never drunk alcohol to be currently employed (.91) and only slightly less likely than moderate alcohol users (.91 vs. .92, p=.09). Similarly, men who had a drug disorder at some point in their life were somewhat less likely (.90 vs. 92, p=.07) to be currently employed, but there was no statistically difference between moderate drug users and non-users. Differences among men by their current (last 12 months) alcohol and, especially, drug use patterns were greater. Current moderate alcohol drinkers were actually more likely than those who had not drunk alcohol in the last year to be employed (.93 vs. 91), while those with a current alcohol problem were less likely to be employed than either moderate or nondrinkers (.89). In contrast to moderate alcohol users, current moderate drug users were less likely to be employed than nonusers (.88 vs. .92). Men with a current drug problem were substantially less likely to be employed (.82) than either moderate or non drug users." Zuvekas S, Cooper PF, Buchmueller TC. Health Behaviors and Labor Market Status: The Impact of Substance Abuse. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Working Paper No. 05013, April 2005, p. 12. |
84. Global Burden of Disease, Mental Health, and Substance Use Disorders "In 2010, mental and substance use disorders accounted for 183.9 million DALYs [Disability-Adjusted Life Years] (95% UI 153.5 million–216.7 million), or 7.4% (6.2–8.6) of all DALYs worldwide. Such disorders accounted for 8.6 million YLLs [Years of Life Lost] (6.5 million–12.1 million; 0.5% [0.4–0.7] of all YLLs) and 175.3 million YLDs [Years Lived with Disability] (144.5 million–207.8 million; 22.9% [18.6–27.2] of all YLDs). Mental and substance use disorders were the leading cause of YLDs worldwide. Depressive disorders accounted for 40.5% (31.7–49.2) of DALYs caused by mental and substance use disorders, with anxiety disorders accounting for 14.6% (11.2–18.4), illicit drug use disorders for 10.9% (8.9–13.2), alcohol use disorders for 9.6% (7.7–11.8), schizophrenia for 7.4% (5.0–9.8), bipolar disorder for 7.0% (4.4–10.3), pervasive developmental disorders for 4.2% (3.2–5.3), childhood behavioural disorders for 3.4% (2.2–4.7), and eating disorders for 1.2% (0.9–1.5). DALYs varied by age and sex, with the highest proportion of total DALYs occurring in people aged 10–29 years. The burden of mental and substance use disorders increased by 37.6% between 1990 and 2010, which for most disorders was driven by population growth and ageing." Harvey A Whiteford, Louisa Degenhardt, Jürgen Rehm, Amanda J Baxter, Alize J Ferrari, Holly E Erskine, Fiona J Charlson, Rosana E Norman, Abraham D Flaxman, Nicole Johns, Roy Burstein, Christopher JL Murray, and Theo Vos, "Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010," The Lancet, 29 August 2013 (Article in Press DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61611-6). |
85. Drug Usage - Research - 3-31-12 (Use Unrelated to Enforcement) "Opponents of drug policy reform commonly argue that drug use would increase if health-based models were emphasized over drug law enforcement,14 but we are unaware of any research to support this position. In fact, a recent World Health Organization study demonstrated that international rates of drug use were unrelated to how vigorously drug laws were enforced, concluding that 'countries with stringent user-level illegal drug policies did not have lower levels of use than countries with liberal ones.'15" Wood, Evan; McKinnon, Moira; Strang, Robert; and Kendall, Perry R., " Improving community health and safety in Canada through evidence-based policies on illegal drugs," Open Medicine (Ottawa, Canada: 2012) Vol 6, No 1, p. 1. |
86. Marijuana Decriminalization and Substitution Effects "In conclusion, our results suggest that participation in the use of both licit and illicit drugs is price sensitive. Participation is sensitive to own prices and the price of the other drugs. In Cameron, Lisa & Williams, Jenny, "Cannabis, Alcohol and Cigarettes: Substitutes or Complements?" The Economic Record (Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia: The Economic Society of Australia, March 2001), p. 32. |
87. Use in Low Income Areas "Although residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods, neighborhoods with high concentrations of minorities, and neighborhoods with high population densities reported much higher levels of visible drug sales, they reported only slightly higher levels of drug use, along with somewhat higher levels of drug dependency. This finding indicates that conflating drug sales with use, so that poor and minority areas are assumed to be the focus of the problem of drug use, is plainly wrong. The finding is based on the data collected across 41 sites, including city and suburban (but not rural) areas in all regions." Saxe, Leonard, PhD, Charles Kadushin, PhD, Andrew Beveridge, PhD, et al., "The Visibility of Illicit Drugs: Implications for Community-Based Drug Control Strategies," American Journal of Public Health (Washington, DC: American Public Health Association, Dec. 2001), Vol. 91, No. 12, p. 1991. |
88. Occupational Injury "We conclude that there is an association between substance use and occupational injury. This association is stronger for males and in certain industries, such as manufacturing and construction, and may also be stronger for younger workers, though future research is needed on this last point. The proportion of injuries caused by substance use, however, is relatively small. Instead, there is mounting evidence that harmful substance use is one of a constellation of behaviors exhibited by certain individuals who may avoid work-related safety precautions and take greater work-related risks. Thus, we suspect that it is more likely that risk-taking dispositions, often termed deviance proneness, and other omitted factors can explain most empirical associations between substance use and injuries at work." Ramchand, Rajeev; Pomeroy, Amanda; Arkes, Jeremy, "The Effects of Substance Use on Workplace Injuries" Center for Health and Safety in the Workplace (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2009), p. 31. |
89. Income and Relationship Status "Legal and illegal use of drugs was most strongly associated with age, sex, and income. Higher income was associated with a greater likelihood of drug use for all drug types examined, which is perhaps not surprising given that drug use requires disposable income. Relationship status was linked to illegal (but not legal) drug use: both cocaine and cannabis use were more likely among persons who had never been married or previously been married." Degenhardt, Louisa; Chiu, Wai-Tat; Sampson, Nancy; Kessler, Ronald C.; Anthony, James C.; Angermeyer, Matthias; Bruffaerts, Ronny; Girolamo, Giovanni de; Gureje, Oye; Huang, Yueqin; Karam, Aimee; Kostyuchenko, Stanislav; Lepine, Jean Pierre; Mora, Maria Elena Medina; Neumark, Yehuda; Ormel, J. Hans; Pinto-Meza, Alejandra; Posada-Villa, Jose´; Stein, Dan J.; Takeshima, Tadashi; Wells, J. Elisabeth, "Toward a Global View of Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis, and Cocaine Use: Findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys," Plos Medicine (Cambridge, United Kingdom: Public Library of Science, July 2008) Vol. 5, Issue 7, p. 1062. |
90. Disadvantaged Areas "Although serious drug use is slightly more prevalent in poor minority neighborhoods than elsewhere, the major problem for disadvantaged neighborhoods is drug distribution. These communities are victims not only of their own drug abuse but also of a criminal drug market that serves the entire society. The market establishes itself in disadvantaged communities in part because of the low social capital in these neighborhoods. The drug economy further erodes that social capital." Saxe, Leonard, PhD, Charles Kadushin, PhD, Andrew Beveridge, PhD, et al., "The Visibility of Illicit Drugs: Implications for Community-Based Drug Control Strategies," American Journal of Public Health (Washington, DC: American Public Health Association, Dec. 2001), Vol. 91, No. 12, p. 1992. |
91. Punitive Drug Control Policies Have Limited Effects "The use of drugs seems to be a feature of more affluent countries. The US, which has been driving much of the world’s drug research and drug policy agenda, stands out with higher levels of use of alcohol, cocaine, and cannabis, despite punitive illegal drug policies, as well as (in many US states), a higher minimum legal alcohol drinking age than many comparable developed countries. The Netherlands, with a less criminally punitive approach to cannabis use than the US, has experienced lower levels of use, particularly among younger adults. Clearly, by itself, a punitive policy towards possession and use accounts for limited variation in nation level rates of illegal drug use." Degenhardt, Louisa; Chiu, Wai-Tat; Sampson, Nancy; Kessler; Ronald C.; Anthon, James C.; Angermeyer, Matthias; Bruffaerts, Ronny; Girolamo, de Giovanni ; Gureje, Oye; Huang, Yueqin; Karam, Aimee; Kostyuchenko, Stanislav; Lepine, Jean Pierre; Mora, Maria Elena Medina; Neumark, Yehuda; Ormel, J. Hans; Pinto-Meza, Alejandra; Posada-Villa, Jose; Stein, Dan J.; Takeshima, Tadashi; Wells, J. Elisabeth, "Toward a Global View of Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis, and Cocaine Use: Findings from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys," PLoS Medicine (Cambridge, United Kingdom: Public Library of Science, July 2008) Vol. 5, Issue 7, p. 1062. |
92. Stigmatization "Because the impacts of problem drug users are largely hidden, and also because their number is actually relatively small (approximately 330,000; Hay et al., 2008),22 people’s understanding of problem drug use tends to come from remote sources – the media (including the internet, television, films, magazines and books) and anecdote – rather than from direct experience. This provides fertile ground for the growth of myths and stereotypes: for example, the prevalent belief in instant addiction and the myth of the drug dealer offering free drugs at the school gates." Lloyd, Charlie, "Sinning and Sinned Against: The Stigmatisation of Problem Drug Users," (London, United Kingdom: UK Drug Policy Commission, August 2010)p. 49. |
93. Sewage Testing "Some scientists have recently turned to the sewer to develop a more accurate estimate of drug use. They examine tiny samples of raw sewage for the presence of illicit drugs and their metabolites in a science known as sewer epidemiology.4 These samples are essentially a diluted urine test collected from an entire community,5 making them akin to a “community urinalysis.”6 The basic science is simple: nearly every drug ingested into the body is eventually excreted and finds its way into the sewer system, allowing scientists to profile a community’s drug use based on objective data." Hering, Christopher L., "Flushing the Fourth Amendment Down the Toilet: How Community Urinalysis Threatens Individual Liberty," Arizona Law Review (Tuscon, AZ: The University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, 2009) Volume 51, Issue 3, p. 742. |
94. Drug Usage - MTF - History of the Monitoring the Future Survey Project
(MTF History) "Monitoring the Future (MTF) is designed to give sustained attention to substance use among the nation’s youth and adults. It is an investigator-initiated study that originated with and is conducted by a team of research professors at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. Since its onset in 1975, MTF has been continuously funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse — one of the National Institutes of Health — under a series of peer-reviewed, competitive research grants. The 2014 survey, reported here, is the 40th consecutive survey of 12th-grade students and the 24th such survey of 8th and 10th graders. Miech, R. A., Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (June 2015). Monitoring the Future national survey results on |
95. Long Term Trends In Prevalence of Marijuana Use Among Youth "Marijuana use declined in the early 2000s, but subsequently rebounded before leveling in the past couple of years. In 2014 the percentage of youth who used marijuana in the past year among students in 12th, 10th, and 8th grade was 35.1%, 27.3%, and 11.7%, respectively. Miech, R. A., Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (June 2015). Monitoring the Future national survey results on |
96. Alcohol Use Among US Youth, 2014 " Alcohol and cigarettes are the two major licit drugs included in the MTF surveys, though even these are legally prohibited for purchase by those the age of most of our respondents. Alcohol use is more widespread than use of illicit drugs. About two thirds of 12th-grade students (66%) have at least tried alcohol, and more than one third (37%) are current drinkers — that is, they reported consuming some alcohol in the 30 days prior to the survey (Table 4-2). Even among 8th graders, more than a quarter (27%) reported any alcohol use in their lifetime, and one in eleven (9%) is a current (past 30 day) drinker.4 Miech, R. A., Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (June 2015). Monitoring the Future national survey results on |
97. Cigarette Use Among US Youth, 2014 " Prevalence of cigarettes is generally higher than for any of the illicit drugs, except for marijuana. About one third (34%) of 12th graders reported having tried cigarettes at some time, and one seventh (14%) smoked in the prior 30 days. Even among 8th graders, about one seventh (14%) reported having tried cigarettes and 4% reported smoking in the prior 30 days. Among 10th graders, 23% reported having tried cigarettes, and 7.2% reported smoking in the prior 30 days. The percentages reporting smoking cigarettes in the prior 30 days are actually lower in all three grades in 2014 than the percentages reporting using marijuana in the prior 30 days: 4.0% for cigarettes versus 6.5% for marijuana in 8th grade; 7.2% versus 16.6% in 10th grade; and 13.6% versus 21.2% in 12th grade. These numbers reflect mostly the considerable decline in cigarette use that has occurred in recent years, though the recent increase in marijuana use has contributed to their standing relative to each other as well. Among 8th, 10th and 12th graders, lifetime prevalence of marijuana use in 2014 was also higher than lifetime prevalence of cigarette use. (Annual prevalence of cigarettes is not assessed.) As noted below, however, daily use in the prior 30 days was higher for cigarettes than for marijuana or alcohol in 8th and 12th grades. For 10th graders marijuana daily use was higher than daily cigarette use (3.4% versus 3.2%)." Miech, R. A., Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (June 2015). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2014: Volume I, Secondary school students. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, p. 85. |
98. Illegal Use of Prescription Drugs and Narcotics Other Than Heroin Among US Youth "Any prescription drug misuse includes use of narcotics, sedatives, tranquilizers, and/or amphetamines without medical supervision. It has been of considerable public health concern in recent years, because most of these drugs showed a substantial increase in use in the 1990s, which then continued into the first decade of the 2000s, when many of the illegal drugs already were in decline. Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Miech, R.A., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (December 16, 2014). "Use of alcohol, cigarettes, and a number of illicit drugs declines among U.S. teens," University of Michigan News Service: Ann Arbor, MI, pp. 3-4. |
99. Perceived Availability of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs Among US Youth " Substantial differences were found in perceived availability of the various drugs. In general, the more widely used drugs are reported to be available by higher proportions of the age group, as would be expected (see Tables 9-6, 9-7, and 9-8). Also, older age groups generally perceive drugs to be more available. For example, in 2013, 39% of 8th graders said marijuana would be fairly easy or very easy to get (which we refer to as 'readily available'), versus 70% of 10th graders and 81% of 12th graders. In fact, compared to 8th graders, the proportion of 12th graders indicating that drugs are available to them is two to four times as high for other drugs included in the study and five times as high for narcotics other than heroin. (Tranquilizers, on the other hand, are reported as only a little less available by 8th graders.) Both associations are consistent with the notion that availability is largely attained through friendship circles. (A section in Chapter 10 documents where 12th graders obtain prescription drugs that are not medically prescribed, and friends clearly are the leading source.) The differences among age groups may also reflect less willingness and/or motivation on the part of those who deal drugs to establish contact with younger adolescents. Because many inhalants — such as glues, butane, and aerosols — are universally available, we do not ask about their availability. See Table 9-8 for the full list of drugs included in the questions for 12th graders; a few of these drugs were not asked of the younger students (see Tables 9-6 and 9-7). Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., Schulenberg, J. E. & Miech, R. A. (2014). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2013: Volume I, Secondary school students. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, pp. 452-453. |
100. Perceived Effect of Legalization on Youth "Most 12th graders felt that they would be little affected personally by the legalization of either the sale or the use of marijuana. Over half (56%) of the respondents said that they would not use the drug even if it were legal to buy and use, while others indicated they would use it about as often as they do now (15%) or less often (1.5%). Only 9% said they would use it more often than they do at present, while 10% thought they would try it. Another 9% said they did not know how their behavior would be affected if marijuana were legalized. Still, this amounts to 19% of all seniors, or about one in five, who thought that they would try marijuana, or that their use would increase, if marijuana were legalized." Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., Schulenberg, J. E. & Miech, R. A. (2014). Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975–2013: Volume I, Secondary school students. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, pp. 400-401. |