Teen & Adult Drug Use Statistics that will blow your mind
Posted by admin on July 25, 2008 in Drug Usage
Drug use (and abuse) over the course of the twentieth century has fluctuated significantly. As new drugs have been introduced into the public, popularity has shifted between a number of legal and illegal substances. With these popularity shifts have come changes in social acceptance, legal tolerance, and use rates among the public.
Drugs Over the Decades
Dozens of illicit substances are used daily around the nation. 5 of these substances have emerged as the most popular (and therefore most abused) over the years. Looking at these drugs based on their number of users gives a clear picture of the magnitude of national popularity, as well as a clear snapshot of the past four decades of use.
Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health
A necessary compliment to the sheer number of users is the percentage of national population using these illicit drugs.
Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health
The most frightening trend that can be seen in this information is the rise in number of users over the course of the decades. Between 1979 and 2006, the total number of illicit drug users almost doubled. Correspondingly, the percentage of users (as a percent of total population) rose over 14%. So, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, almost 50% of the US population has used illicit drugs at some point in their lives. Based on the most recent survey data, we can see that marijuana is by far the most popular substance used, making up almost half of all users nationwide.
Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health
The Big 5: 5 Major Drugs in the Twentieth Century
Marijuana
At this point, 40% of the US population has tried marijuana. The drug has seen its largest rise in use (by percentage) since 1979 in the last 5 years. Cannabis is considered a “less illegal” drug, with steps towards legalization being taken in various states. One specific example of this is Colorado’s attempt to decriminalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. The amendment failed by a margin of 60-40, similar to the Alaska’s attempt in 2004.
Cocaine/Crack Cocaine
Cocaine became illegal, or “a controlled substance”, in 1970. The drug saw its peak use in the late 1990’s with the introduction of “crack cocaine” – sold primarily to poorer, inner city neighborhoods. It continues to be used by an increasing percentage of the population, showing that the drug is still gaining popularity, in rock and powder form. See how drug addiction actually occurs.
Heroin
Heroin
First marketed as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough suppressant by Bayer, at the turn of the 20th century, heroin quickly became a recreational drug for the masses. Made illegal in the US in 1970, the drug is considered one of the most addictive available. Since 1979, heroin has had consistent usage (as a percentage) by the US population.
Prescription Drugs
Prescription drugs have less data than the previous three substances, mainly due to the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987. Previous to this act very little information is known, due to lack of regulation. But, since the act was enabled, knowledge of the abuse of prescription drugs has been widespread. In fact, prescription drug abuse has grown at a faster pace than any of the other major illicit substances.
Methamphetamines
Methamphetamines, or “Crystal Meth”, has been used legally and illegally since World War II. Usage peaked around 1980; the drug was produced and sold legally until 1986. The drug can be produced illegally with non-prescription drugs, which has lead to consistent levels of usage throughout the years. Attempts by the federal and state governments to curb usage have recently been more successful with the passing of the Patriot Act in 2005.
Sources:
http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/nsduh/ever-used.htm
https://nsduhweb.rti.org/
http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/stateTrends.htm
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/factsht/druguse/
http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/nationtrends.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decriminalization_of_non-medical_marijuana_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescription_drug
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Popularization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_meth
66 Comments on Teen & Adult Drug Use Statistics that will blow your mind
By Eddy on July 25, 2008 at 3:56 pm
More reality:
“97% of drug deaths from legal drugs” (According to the Journal of the American Medical Association’s statistics)
— http://newsrogue.com/97-of-drug-deaths-from-legal-drugs/
By Yasser on July 25, 2008 at 6:55 pm
The marijuana doesn’t surprise me. I actually expected a bit higher but that’s a good number, I guess…
By Cincyscreenwriter on July 25, 2008 at 7:47 pm
The websites’ below are not reliable sources because they are spawned out of people (Melvin & Betty Sembler) who founded an abusive drug treatment/behavior modification program for teens and early adults in the early eighties and kept it going until it got shut down for abuse finally in 1993. These two above mentioned culprits also founded the drug free america foundation, so they definitely had a lot to gain financially from Americas drug policies in which they both helped to create. Some of those other sites are probably linked to those two somehow , as well. Do your research and you shall see that the whole “drug war” is enflated on purpose b/c it is a big money rackett on both ends of the spectrum. Also, consider this: most of those “surveys” taken are bogus because they do not account for the factor of people not telling the truth while answering the survey questions. The Drug Czar does not take that into account when publishing these studies and having the drones spread them about panicking people, with their scare tactics to continue the drug war as they seem to want to do.
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/factsht/druguse/
http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/nationtrends.html
By Austin on July 25, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I’d like to see a breakdown of Teen drug usage vs Adult drug usage as well, if that’s possible…
By Clay Beaudette on July 25, 2008 at 8:31 pm
With numbers like these legalizing marijuana should soon come to pass. Hopefully.
By kg on July 25, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Pretty scary stuff. Why does the human race continue to explore avenues that have proven fatal. Racial imbalance, poverty, ignorance, are all excuses but not often taught as that. The pasture of lies that youth fights through is not often easy, sometimes external experience can help one realize an alternate route. And when there is no money for travel, that external experience one might desire is found in a drug. The culture is often the catch, emotional bonds that our youth develop through adolescence are strong, as strong as the will to grow. Sometimes I wonder if raising my child will be similar to riding a bull, already he is strong in will and independent (at under 2 years of age). But then again, I already expect some resistance, and believe that my preparation will prevail. Can we teach others to do the same?
By FuzzLinks.com » Teen & Adult Drug Use Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind on July 25, 2008 at 8:41 pm
[...] Drug use (and abuse) over the course of the twentieth century has fluctuated significantly. As new drugs have been introduced into the public, popularity has shifted between a number of legal and illegal substances. With these popularity shifts have come changes in social acceptance, legal tolerance, and use rates among the public.http://www.vistabay.com/blog/?p=3 [...]
By Andrew Wickham on July 25, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I believe that your facts are untrue when coming up with the conclusion that 45.4% of the population has used drugs.
If you’re a drug user, most likely you’ve tried more than one drug. That establishes overlap in statistic, also known as not being mutually exclusive. For example, User A may have tried marijuana in 2006, well in that same year they tried cocaine… by summing up the percentages you just counted that mutlidrug user multiple times.
Please, correct me if I’m wrong, but I do not believe that 45.4% is any relative statistic. Same thing applies when you’re totally the number of users. There weren’t necessarily that many users, but they may have been that many USES of the drug.
By Curtis Jackson on July 25, 2008 at 9:24 pm
“National prohibition of alcohol (1920-33)–the “noble experiment”–was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America. The results of that experiment clearly indicate that it was a miserable failure on all counts. The evidence affirms sound economic theory, which predicts that prohibition of mutually beneficial exchanges is doomed to failure.
Alcohol became more dangerous to consume; crime increased and became “organized”; the court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point; and corruption of public officials was rampant. No measurable gains were made in productivity or reduced absenteeism. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending. . .”
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1017
The above article, by Mark Thornton, applies equally today. The same problems we had in the ’20s and 30s, are here, now! The same reasons for instituting alcohol prohibition, are still the same for drug prohibition. It didn’t work then, and it is failing miserably today.
Luckily, we had people back then who understood the problem, and helped repeal prohibition. It is unfortunate today, that we evidently lack such people.
By Jesus Christ on July 25, 2008 at 9:30 pm
OMG, you mean the people who tried drugs 20-30 years ago are still alive and still tried drugs 20-30 years ago? This information is stunning!
By Emma on July 25, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Notice that half of this articles sources were derived from wikipedia… an unreliable source.
By John on July 25, 2008 at 9:43 pm
You cant use wikipedia as a source and expect people to take you seriously.
By Meethere on July 25, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Those are shocking results.
I never thought this can go as high as 45%
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By jorge on July 25, 2008 at 11:45 pm
cool, makes me wanna smoke some weed
By FactChecker on July 26, 2008 at 12:13 am
The population of America in 2006 is very close to 300 million. 111 million is not half of 300 million. Recheck your facts.
By robert on July 26, 2008 at 12:24 am
This is pretty clear evidence that it’s long past time to decriminalize marijuana. Too bad this is such a political hot potato that most of our elected officials won’t come anywhere near it.
By ellen on July 26, 2008 at 12:44 am
these “statistics” aren’t very mind-blowing. i doubt they’re very correct either. i know for a fact that the stats for prescriptions should look WAYYY higher.
By sumsach on July 26, 2008 at 12:54 am
great art, thanks for sharing.
By cleo on July 26, 2008 at 1:17 am
I think it is no surprise that people my age (young adult) engage in high levels of drug use. At least 99% of my friends drink too much alcohol/ smoke to many cigg. / or engage in hard drug usage/ including smoking weed. And I am in college so there is more of an acceptance.
By enantiodromia on July 26, 2008 at 3:00 am
i think you are confusing “has tried in their life time” with “is a user”. i tried frog’s legs once when i was a kid, but i wouldn’t say that made me a regular ‘user’ of frog’s legs.
also, don’t you think it makes perfect sense the number of people who have “tried” drugs in their lives would go up, considering that every day more and more people are born, and some percentage of those people will eventually try drugs at some point? according to these stats, these numbers would HAVE to go up, as i assume once you answered “yes” to “have you tried drugs at least once in your life”, you can never go back and change your answer to “no” later on.
lastly, unless you include nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine in these types of reports, you are dancing around the real epidemic. nicotine is by far one of the worst drugs out there, and the hardest to quit.
By MIchael on July 26, 2008 at 3:20 am
All a direct result of the drug war. To gain control the masses must be more informed and all drugs legal but controlled by the government…
By ALiK on July 26, 2008 at 3:24 am
so about half of the americans get high…
…oh, i feel so sorry about the other half. they’ll become a minority soon.
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By Cat on July 26, 2008 at 3:32 am
It’s amazing how much hold drugs have on our society, isn’t it? I’m a crime analyst for a large west coast city and nearly every crime, violent and property, has a link to drug use or dealing. People steal to support their habits, others use violence to protect their drug dealing territory. Solve the drug addiction and crimes will drop nationwide. How to go about that is not so easy.
Our justice system wants to rehabilitate drug abusers, not punish them. Safe to say it’s not working. How do you convince a 15-year-old minority male that he should stop running drugs for his gang, say goodbye to $1500 cash a week for a few hours work and go work at McDonald’s instead? Especially when the penalty for getting caught is home probation, or a couple days in juvenile hall at the most.
Found your article on Digg’s front page. So excellent to see a good criminal justice piece getting attention.
By t5 on July 26, 2008 at 3:40 am
yes, the war on drugs is really really working great. it’s time for something new.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein
By Nathan on July 26, 2008 at 3:42 am
I think that the significant thing about marijuana at least is that 40 percent of the population has tried it, and yet everyone is fine. Decriminalization is the way to go. Holland, with decriminalized drugs and even heroin clinics, where they administer low doses to addicts, has a lower drug use rate among teens than in the United States.
No sense sending people to prison for something everybody obviously thinks is ok.
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By jeff on July 26, 2008 at 7:16 am
It always strikes me as very odd when marijuana is lumped in with dangerous drugs.
The reality is that it’s a safer alternative to alcohol, and sane social policies would treat it as such and focus on reducing the use of dangerous drugs.
The steady increase in use of dangerous drugs, including the rebound of heroin is certainly alarming.
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By Margaret on July 26, 2008 at 11:18 am
These stats are incredibly unclear and not very useful.
For example, just off the top of my head:
What constitutes abuse of prescription drugs? Simply not following dosing directions, or actual dependency? Or just “illicit” use?
Moreover, it would stand to reason that over time the number of people who have used (even if just once) any particular drug would increase, as people live longer.
By joel kauffman on July 26, 2008 at 2:26 pm
It’s plain to see that the statistics about the growth of use clearly point out that the, “Drug War.” isn’t working. A more rational approach like that of the Netherlands has to be implemented.
By Stan Musel on July 26, 2008 at 3:07 pm
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Having struggled with prescription drug addiction to both pain meds and anti-anxiety drugs as a result of surgeries a while back, I wish that I had had access to the types of treatments and facilities that these guys have. If anyone is reading this and thinks they or a family member, etc, may need help, SouthCoast Recovery is no joke and you should really check them out.
By Jefferson Preston on July 26, 2008 at 3:28 pm
While I do not advocate drug use, it is obvious that the war on drugs is a dismal failure, and serves only the expansion of government. I wonder how many people are in prison, or have had their lives ruined by being arrested for doing something to their own body.
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By RayRay on July 26, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I wonder what the graph would look like if you also included the amount of money spent on the War on Drugs in the same period of time. More and more money gets spent on this war, and where are the results? I’m not going to try to take this further than that, because its up to one’s own mind to consider it a huge waste of money to spend where the figures show increases and if the War On Drugs driving up the prices of drugs that makes dealing so profitable that it perpetuates this entire spree. Alcohol was cheap before prohibition, the prices it reached on the black market contributed to the ride of the mob, and post prohibition repercussions are felt in your $9 trendy martini today.
By nobody on July 26, 2008 at 6:40 pm
weed saves!
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By Anonymous on July 28, 2008 at 7:54 am
druge usage…
According to this data almost 40% of Americans have used marijuana at least once in their lifetime….
By Anonymous on July 28, 2008 at 7:55 am
teenage drug use…
According to this data almost 40% of Americans have used marijuana at least once in their lifetime….
By Anonymous on July 28, 2008 at 7:58 am
drug use - statistics…
According to this article, marijuana seems to be the most popular drug of all times….
By SMUGGLER HAN SOLO on July 28, 2008 at 11:04 am
YOU FORGOT TO ADD SPICE TO THIS LIST!! LooL361
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By Miguel on July 28, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Your pie chart and the paragraph preceeding it are specious. What’s the chance that there’s no overlap among users of those different drug categories?
By Cathy on August 1, 2008 at 1:53 pm
It’s a sad reality.
But I believe teenagers have a choice to get involved. True, the environment plays a big role but it’s all about self-discipline and respect. I was once a teenager and I could have done so easy but I chose a different path.
By x on August 8, 2008 at 11:18 am
It amazes me that the United States spends all sorts of resources to stop the drug dealers, but basically overlooks the fact that at the other half of “supply & demand” is demand. Demand continues to grow in America, and the taxes and lives wasted on this “war on drugs” continues to grow.
I’m going out on a limb, but i’d be willing to bet that in cultures that have a small demand for drugs, probably have a small problem with drug activity. America heavily uses drugs (legal and illegal). Being a drug dealer in America, is probably a very lucrative business to be in (just ask the pharmaceutical companies).
1117×08AUG2008
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