Facts about drugs

1. The highest rates of illicit drug use are found among youth ages 18-20 (between 20% and 21%) with marijuana the most commonly used illicit drug (NIDA, 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse).

2. First use of alcohol typically begins around the age 13; marijuana around 14 (NIDA, Drug Use Among Racial/Ethnic Minorities, 1995, p.31).

3. A clear relationship exists between alcohol use and grade-point average among college students: students with GPAs of D or F drink three times as much as those who earn As (C Presley and P Meilman, “Alcohol and Drugs on American College Campuses,” Student Health Program Wellness Center, Southern Illinois University, 7/92).

4. High potency of marijuana may be contributing to a substantial increase in the number of American teenagers in treatment for marijuana dependence. According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), one in four 12-17-year-olds who report using marijuana in the past year display the characteristics of abuse or dependency. For younger users, the risk of marijuana abuse or dependency exceeds that for alcohol or tobacco. (Office of National Drug Control Policy)

5. In 2006, 1.9 million Americans age 12 and older had abused methamphetamine at least once in the year prior to being surveyed. (Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health; http://www.samhsa.gov/.)

6. 16.2 million Americans age 12 and older had taken a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant, or sedative for nonmedical purposes at least once in the year prior to being surveyed. (Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health; http://www.samhsa.gov/.)

7. In 2005, 6.8 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 used marijuana in the past month, and 3.5 percent had used cigars with marijuana in them (”blunts”) in the past month. (Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health; http://www.samhsa.gov/.)

8. Among youths, past month use of both marijuana and blunts increased with age and was more likely among males than females (marijuana: 7.5 vs. 6.2 percent; blunts: 4.2 vs. 2.9 percent) (Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health; http://www.samhsa.gov/.)

9. Regardless of family income, youths aged 12 to 17 who did not participate in any activities had higher rates of past month cigarette and illicit drug use than those who participated in four to six or seven or more activities. (Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health; http://www.samhsa.gov/.)

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 10th, 2008 at 11:33 am and is filed under Drug Related News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.