WASHINGTON – The number of Americans using illicit drugs increased by only 0.2% between 2009 and 2010, and the rate of smoking and drinking among youth aged 12 to 17 continued to decline, according to the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health report, released Sept. 8.

That’s the good news.

The not-so-good news, said Pamela S. Hyde, administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is that overall, illicit drug use among Americans has continued to increase since 2008 or has remained flat – especially the rate of prescription drug abuse. That rate has hovered around 2.7 (or 7 million people) since 2002.

Overall, 8.9% of Americans aged 12 years or older, or 22.6 million people, were current illicit drug users in 2010, compared with 8.7% in 2009. The rate, however, is higher than the 8% estimated in 2008, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a federally funded annual survey of more than 67,000 people.

Marijuana remained the most commonly used illicit drug in 2010, with an estimated 17.4 million people (6.9% of the population) reporting to have used it during the past month. This rate was 14.4% in 2007. Marijuana also had the largest number of first-time users, with 2.4 million people 12 years or older initiating its use in 2010.

The drug use rates in almost all other categories, from cocaine to pain relievers, showed a decline or remained stable in most age groups. Meanwhile, two age groups, young adults aged 18-25 years, and baby boomers (50-59 years old), continued to show a steady increase in illicit drug use.

In 2010, 21.5% of young adults were current users of illicit drugs, up from 21.2% in 2009 and 19.6% in 2008. The main driver was marijuana, which rose from 16.5% in 2008 to 18.1% in 2009 to 18.5% in 2010.

The use of cocaine and methamphetamine declined among young adults, while the nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs remained at 5.9%, similar to what it’s been since 2002.

Illicit drug use among baby boomers, whose lifetime rate of illicit drug use has been higher than older groups, continued a steady increase from 2.7% in 2002 to 5.8% in 2010. "As baby boomers enter what I call the ‘age of pain,’ physicians should be aware that the potential for [drug] misuse goes up," said Dr. H. Westley Clark, director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse and Treatment.

Although the illicit drug use rate among youths aged 12 to 17 increased by only 0.1% to 10.1% between 2009 and 2010, the rate remains higher than the estimated 9.3% in 2008, and defies the decline observed between 2002 and 2008. Nonmedical use of prescription drugs, however, declined from 4% to 3%, while Ecstasy use increased by 0.5% between 2009 and 2010.

The rate of alcohol use among youths dropped from 14.7% in 2009 to 13.6% in 2010. The rate of tobacco use in this age group dropped from 11.6% in 2009 to 10.7% in 2010.

Friends and family remain as the main source (55%) of prescription pain relievers for nonmedical use. Only 4.4% used a dealer and 0.4% bought the pills online.

09/08/11  

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FROM THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

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Vitals

Major Finding: Between 2007 and 2010, the rate of marijuana use rose from 5.8% to 6.9%, and the number of users increased from 14.4 million to 17.4 million.

Data Source: The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a national survey of 67,500 people aged 12 and older.

Disclosures: No disclosures reported