Substance Abuse

Incidence of Drug Use and Abuse

According to the latest press release of Monitoring the Future's national, annual survey on adolescent drug use (Johnston & colleagues, 2003), alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana are the leading substances used by adolescents in the United States. Alcohol is the substance most cited by 8th, 10th, and 12th graders; 46%, 66%, and 77%, respectively, report lifetime use (i.e., having ever used). Tobacco is the second most commonly reported substance; lifetime prevalence for adolescents has declined significantly but is increasing again with heavy marketing to this age group. Despite similar declines in use since the mid-to-late 1990s, marijuana is still the leading illicit drug cited by adolescents, with 18% of 8th graders, 36% of 10th graders, and 46% of 12th graders reporting lifetime use. Rates of ecstasy use rose steadily among adolescents through the mid-1990s and reached peak rates in 2001, with 5%, 8%, and 12% of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, respectively, reporting lifetime use. However, since 2001 annual rates among 10th and 12th graders have declined by nearly half.

Use of other so-called club drugs (Rohypnol, GHB [gamma hydroxybutyrate], ketamine) have remained relatively stable at less than or equal to 2% reported annual use for all three grade levels. Since 2001, misuse (use without prescription) of two prescription narcotic drugs, OxyContin and Vicodin, has increased, with 2003 annual prevalence rates ranging from 1.7% for 8th graders to 4.5% for 12th graders for OxyContin use, and 2.8% for 8th graders to 10.5% for 12th graders for Vicodin. Following marijuana, Vicodin is the second most frequently reported drug among seniors in high school. Since 1998, rates of tranquilizer use among 12th graders have increased somewhat from 8.5% to 10.2%, while lifetime rates of hallucinogens have decreased from 14.1% to 10.6%. Drug trends among subgroups obtained from a Monitoring the Future study, 1975–2002 showed that white students reported the highest drug use, followed by Latinos, over time and by grade, while African American students are consistently lower in all drug use across all grades. By 12th grade, gender differences that appeared in 10th grade increased, with males reporting more use than females for all drugs and most time points. Other factors influencing greater reported use are no college plans and density of residential area (Johnston & colleagues, 2003). It is critical for drug prevention program planners to monitor drug use rates over time as popularity of specific substances may change. In addition, it is important to attend to variations in drug use, misuse, or abuse across age, gender, ethnicity, community, and socioeconomic status.

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