The number of people aged 18 to 25 who used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes in the past month declined 14%—from 2 million in 2010 to 1.7 million in 2011—the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced on Monday. Non-medical use of prescription drugs among children aged 12 to 17 and adults aged 26 or older remained unchanged.
In addition, the 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) showed that the rates of past month drinking, binge drinking and heavy drinking among underage people continued a decline from 2002. Past month alcohol use among 12 to 20 year olds declined from 28.8% in 2002 to 25.1% in 2011, while binge drinking (consuming 5 or more drinks on a single occasion on at least 1 day in the past 30 days) declined from 19.3% in 2002 to 15.8% in 2011, and heavy drinking declined from 6.2% in 2002 to 4.4% in 2011.
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Overall, the use of illicit drugs among Americans aged 12 and older remained stable since the last survey in 2010. The NSDUH shows that 22.5 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users—(8.7% of the population 12 and older in 2011 versus 8.9% in 2010).
Marijuana continues to be the most commonly used illicit drug. In 2011, 7% of Americans were current users of marijuana—up from 5.8% in 2007. Among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate of current marijuana use remained about the same from 2009 (7.4%) to 2011 (7.9%). Increases in the rate of current marijuana use occurred from 2007 to 2011 among adolescents (ages 12-17), young adults (ages 18 to 25), and adults (ages 26 or older). Additionally, the number of people aged 12 and older who used heroin in the past year rose from 373,000 in 2007 to 621,000 in 2010 and 620,000 in 2011.
“These findings show that national efforts to address the problem of prescription drug misuse may be beginning to bear fruit and we must continue to apply this pressure to drive down this and other forms of substance use,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde. “Behind each of these statistics are individuals, families and communities suffering from the consequences of abuse and addiction. We must continue to promote robust prevention, treatment and recovery programs throughout our country.”
The 2011 NSDUH showed some areas of continued improvement in terms of lower use levels,including reductions of 44% and 40%, respectively, in the number of past month users of cocaine and methamphetamine since 2006 and a 19% reduction in the number of past month users of hallucinogens between 2010 and 2011.
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The underage tobacco rate of past month use among 12 to 17 year olds continued to decline from 15.2% in 2002, to 10.7% in 2010 and 10% in 2011.
The 2011 NSDUH report shows the continuation of the vast disparity between the number of people needing treatment for a substance abuse problem and the number who actually receive specialty treatment. According to the report 21.6 million Americans needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem in 2011 and only 2.3 million (or 10.8% of those in need) received it in a specialized treatment setting. Although the number needing treatment declined between 2010 (23.2 million) and 2011, the percent of those in need that received specialty treatment in 2011 was statistically unchanged from 2010 (11.2%).
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