"Among people aged 12 or older in 2025, 69.8 million people used illicit drugs in the past year (Figure 15). The most commonly used illicit drug in the past year was marijuana, which was used by 61.6 million people. In the past year, 9.1 million people used hallucinogens, and 6.9 million people misused prescription opioids (shown as “Rx Opioid Misuse” in the figure). Smaller numbers of people were past year users or misusers of the other illicit drugs shown in Figure 15.22.
"Any Illicit Drug Use
"Among people aged 12 or older, the percentage who used illicit drugs in the past year increased from 22.2 percent (or 62.0 million people) in 2021 to 24.0 percent (or 69.8 million people) in 2025 (Figure 16 and Table A.10B). This increase is largely tied to the increase in marijuana use in the past year (see the next section on Marijuana Use).
"The percentage of people who used illicit drugs in the past year also increased among adults aged 26 or older, from 20.5 percent (or 45.2 million people) in 2021 to 23.5 percent (or 53.8 million people) in 2025 (Figure 16 and Table A.13B). Percentages decreased from 2021 to 2025 for adolescents aged 12 to 17 and young adults aged 18 to 25 (Tables A.11B and A.12B). For example, the percentage of adolescents aged 12 to 17 who used illicit drugs in the past year decreased from 14.6 percent (or 3.8 million people) in 2021 to 11.2 percent (or 2.9 million people) in 2025.
"Because the question wording for inhalants changed for 2025 (see the Inhalant Use section), trends also were evaluated for the use of illicit drugs in the past year excluding inhalants. Those trends were the same as the trends described previously for any use of illicit drugs that included inhalants. Therefore, the change to the questions for inhalants in 2025 was assumed not to have affected overall trends for any illicit drug use in the past year.
"In 2025, the percentage of people who used illicit drugs in the past year was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (36.3 percent or 13.1 million people), followed by adults aged 26 or older (23.5 percent or 53.8 million people), then by adolescents aged 12 to 17 (11.2 percent or 2.9 million people) (Figure 16 and Tables A.11B, A.12B, and A.13B)."
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2026). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP26-07-010, NSDUH Series H-61). Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.