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Statistics can be helpful in understanding the depth of the problem of substance abuse in teens. Below are some statistics about drug and alcohol use among adolescents. The statistics are grouped by type of drug and are then listed as either national or Indiana statistics.
Alcohol
National Statistics:
- More than five million high school students binge drink (consume five or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting) at least once a month.
- Individuals who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol dependent than those who begin drinking at age 21.
- The prevalence of lifetime alcohol abuse is greatest for those who begin drinking at age 14.
- One-third of 6th and 9th graders obtain alcohol from their own homes.
- Four out of every five (80%) students have consumed alcohol (more than a few sips) by the end of high school.
- In 2000, there were 2,339 alcohol-related fatalities among youth ages 15-20.
- It is estimated that more than 20,000 lives have been saved by minimum drinking age laws since 1975.
- Eight young people die each day in alcohol-related crashes.
- The most abused drug in the United States is alcohol, but many people don't even think of alcohol as a drug.
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about two in every five Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some point in their lives, and 41% of all traffic fatalities in the U.S. are alcohol-related.
- Results of the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) indicated that underage past month alcohol use was highest among whites (31%), followed by American Indians/Alaska Natives (28%), Hispanics (22-25%), and African Americans (19%).
- The 2000 NHSDA showed that among youth aged 12 to 17, rates of past month alcohol use were higher in rural areas than in large metropolitan areas.
Sources:
www.saddonline.com/stats.htm, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
www.saddonline.com/stats.htm, Monitoring the Future.
www.saddonline.com/stats.htm, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
www.intheknowzone.com/binge/stats.htm, National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Somdahl, G. L., "Drugs and Kids: How Parents Can Keep Them Apart." Dimi Press; Salem: 1996.
"Prevention Works: Substance Abuse Resource Guide." Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
"The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Report (NHSDA)." December 14, 2001.
Indiana Statistics:
- In 2002, 48.1 of 12th graders and 9.5% of 6th graders in Indiana reported drinking alcohol in the past month.
- 15.5% of Indiana 8th graders reported participating in binge drinking in 2002.
- In 2001, 25.9% of 12th grade Hoosiers reported driving while under the influence of alcohol during the past year.
Sources:
Prevention Newsline, Indiana Prevention Resource Center, Vol. 15, 2002.
Kids Count in Indiana, Indiana Youth Institute, 2001, 38.
Marijuana
National Statistics:
- Marijuana is the Nation's most commonly used illicit drug. More than 83 million Americans (37 percent) age 12 and older have tried marijuana at least once.
- In 2001, marijuana was used by 76% of current illicit drug users.
- In 2001, 20% of 8th graders reported trying marijuana, and 9% were current users (defined as having used the drug in the past 30 days).
- Among 10th graders, 40% had tried marijuana, and almost 20% were current users in 2001.
- Among 12th graders, nearly half had tried marijuana, and 22% were current users in 2001.
- Marijuana was a contributing factor in more than 110,000 emergency department visits in the United States in 2001. About 15% of the patients were between the ages of 12 and 17 and almost two-thirds were male.
- Fifty-three percent of juvenile male and 38% of juvenile female arrestees tested positive for marijuana in 1999.
- Smoking 1 to 3 marijuana joints a day produces the same lung damage and cancer risk as smoking five times as many cigarettes.
- The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) found that adolescents who smoke pot are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than their non-smoking peers. They also found that 60% of adolescents who use marijuana before age 15 later go on to use cocaine.
- The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) has found that marijuana is the most frequently reported drug in emergency department visits related to drug abuse among youth age 12 to 19.
- In 2001, about 38,000 high school seniors in the U.S. reported that they crashed while driving under the influence of marijuana.
Sources:
2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA).
www.saddonline.com/stats.htm, SAMHSA.
The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), 2001.
The National Institute of Justice's Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM), 1999.
www.intheknowzone.com/marijuana/stats.htm.
"The DAWN Report." Drug Abuse Warning Network, August 2003.
Unpublished estimate derived from U.S. Census Bureau and Monitoring the Future data from O'Malley, Patrick and Johnston, Lloyd, "Unsafe Driving by High School Seniors: National Trends from 1976 to 2001 in Tickets and Accidents After Alcohol, Marijuana and Other Illegal Drugs, "Journal of Studies on Alcohol, (64: 305-12), May 2003.
Indiana Statistics:
- In 2003, 19.1% of Indiana 8th graders and 42.3% of 12th graders reported ever having used marijuana.
- Marijuana use among Indiana teens has declined recently, but remains higher than it was a decade ago.
- In 2002, Indiana 8th graders reported higher rates of lifetime, annual, monthly, and daily use of marijuana than the national average.
Sources:
The Indiana Prevention Resource Center Survey: 2003.
Indiana Youth Institute's 2002 Kids Count in Indiana Data Book
Inhalants
National Statistics:
- One out of five students in America has used an inhalant to get high by the 8th grade.
- Fifty-five percent of the deaths linked to inhalant abuse are caused by Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome, which can occur on the first use or any use.
- Twenty-two percent of inhalant abusers who died of Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome were first-time users.
Sources:
www.inhalants.org/nipaw.html.
www.intheknowzone.com/inhalants/stats.htm.
Indiana Statistics:
- In 2003, 7.2% of Indiana 6th graders and 10.9% of 10th graders reported ever having used inhalants.
- Even though lifetime inhalant use among Indiana teens is still alarmingly high, use is down considerably from the mid 1990's when it was as high as 18.3% among 9th graders.
- Fortunately, inhalant use among teens in Indiana is lower than the national average, but the gap decreases as students get older.
Sources:
The Indiana Prevention Resources Center Survey: 2003.
Club Drugs
National Statistics:
- In 2001, an estimated 8.1 million (3.6%) of Americans aged 12 or older had tried ecstasy at least once in their lifetime.
- Ecstasy is the most commonly used club drug, but only 2% of 8th through 12th graders use it on a regular basis.
- The number of high school students seen in emergency rooms for GHB use rose from 55 in 1994 to 4,969 in 2000, then declined to 3,340 in 2001.
"Tips for Teens: The Truth About Club Drugs." SAMHSA, 2000.
www.drugabuse.gov/Infofax/RohypnolGHB.html.
www.saddonline.com/stats.htm, SAMHSA.
Indiana Statistics:
- In 2002, 9.5% of Indiana 12th graders reported ever having used ecstasy, which is slightly less then national average.
Sources:
The Indiana Prevention Resource Center Survey: 2003.
Cocaine
National Statistics:
- In 2001, 8.2% of high school seniors reported having ever used cocaine.
- An average of 10% of Americans over the age of 12 has tried cocaine at least once. Two percent have tried crack cocaine and approximately 1% of Americans use cocaine on a regular basis.
- In 2002, 5% of high school seniors reported using cocaine in the past 12 months and 2.3% had used cocaine in the past 30 days.
Sources:
www.drug-statistics.com/cocaine.htm.
www.cocaine-addiction.info/statistics.htm.
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/tables/cocaine.htm, Monitoring the Future, 2002.
Indiana Statistics:
- In 2002, 8.6% of Indiana 12th graders reported ever having used cocaine, while the national average was 7.8%
- In 2002, 4.1% of 12th grade Hoosiers reported having tried the more potent form of cocaine known as crack.
Sources:
The Indiana Prevention Resource Center Survey: 2003.
Heroin
National Statistics:
- Emergency room cases involving heroin use among youth between 12 and 17 years of age nearly quadrupled in the 1990's.
- In 1998 there were an estimated 149,000 new heroin users, and nearly 80% of them were under the age of 26.
- The mean age of first use of heroin declined from age 26 in 1992 to age 21.3 in 1998, indicating that more young people are using the drug.
Sources:
"Tips for Teens: The Truth About Heroin." SAMHSA, 2001.
www.intheknowzone.com/heroin/stats.htm, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), 1999.
Indiana Statistics:
- In 2003, approximately 2% of Indiana 8th through 12th graders reported ever having used heroin.
Sources:
The Indiana Prevention Resource Center Survey: 2003.
Hallucinogens
National Statistics:
- Approximately 11% of high school seniors have ever used LSD.
- About 3% of high school seniors surveyed last year had ever used PCP, compared with an all-time high of nearly 13% in 1979.
Sources:
www.intheknowzone.com/hallucinogens/stats.htm.
Indiana Statistics:
- In 2002, 12.8% of Indiana 12th graders reported ever having taken a hallucinogen.
- While lifetime hallucinogen use among 10th and 12th graders in Indiana has decreased since the late 1990's, usage rates in 2002 were still higher than the national average.
Sources:
The Indiana Prevention Resource Center Survey: 2003.
General Drug Use Among Adolescents
National Statistics:
- Among youth aged 12 to 17, the rate of current illicit drug use was higher for boys (11.4%) than for girls (10.2%).
- In 2002, 53% of 12th graders reported having used an illicit drug in their lifetime.
- In 2002, between 13 and 18% of drivers aged 17 to 21 reported driving under the influence of an illicit drug in the past year.
- About 30% of adolescent suicides are attributed to depression, aggravated by drug or alcohol abuse.
- The United States has the highest rate of teen and young adult drug abuse in the world.
Sources:
www.saddonline.com/stats.htm, SAMHSA.
www.saddonline.com/stats.htm, Monitoring the Future.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Survey on Drug Use and Health Report, "Drugged Driving 2002, Update, "September 16, 2003.
Somdahl, G. L., "Drugs and Kids: How Parents Can Keep Them Apart." Dimi Press; Salem: 1996.
Indiana Statistics:
- Nearly two-thirds of all new drug experimentation in Indiana begins between the end of 6th grade and the end of 9th grade.
- Adolescents aged 10 through 14 are those most likely to begin using drugs and alcohol, and the afternoon hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. are when most new drug use by youth this age occurs.
Sources:
"Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use by Indiana Children and Adolescents," Indiana Prevention Resource Center's annual survey, 1997.
[Keywords: alcohol, other drugs, prevention]
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