Current Drug Use Statistics


Information provided by the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2004), which is a project of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The survey interviews more than 65,000 people ages 12 and up each year for the most recent snapshot of drug use in America. For a breakdown of statistics for a specific state in the U.S., visit the state drug information page.

19.1 million Americans, or 7.9 percent of the population aged 12 or older, were current illicit drug users. Current drug use means use of an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview.

The rate of illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older in 2004 was similar to the rates in 2002 and 2003 (8.3 and 8.2 percent). Among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate declined between 2002 and 2004 (11.6 percent in 2002, 11.2 percent in 2003, and 10.6 percent in 2004).

Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug in 2004, with a rate of 6.1 percent (14.6 million current users). There were 2.0 million current cocaine users, 467,000 of whom used crack. Hallucinogens were used by 929,000 persons, and there were an estimated 166,000 heroin users. All of these estimates are similar to estimates for 2003.

Between 2002 and 2004, past month marijuana use declined for male youths aged 12 to 17 (9.1 percent in 2002, 8.6 percent in 2003, and 8.1 percent in 2004), but it remained level for female youths (7.2, 7.2, and 7.1 percent, respectively) during the same time span.

The number of current users of Ecstasy had decreased between 2002 and 2003, from 676,000 to 470,000, but the number did not change between 2003 and 2004 (450,000).

6.0 million persons were current users of psychotherapeutic drugs taken nonmedically (2.5 percent). These include 4.4 million who used painkillers, 1.6 million who used tranquilizers, 1.2 million who used stimulants, and 0.3 million who used sedatives. These estimates are all similar to the corresponding estimates for 2003.

There were significant increases in the lifetime prevalence of use from 2003 to 2004 in several categories of pain relievers among those aged 18 to 25. Specific pain relievers with statistically significant increases in lifetime use were Vicodin®, Lortab®, or Lorcet® (from 15.0 to 16.5 percent); Percocet®, Percodan®, or Tylox® (from 7.8 to 8.7 percent); hydrocodone products (from 16.3 to 17.4 percent); OxyContin® (from 3.6 to 4.3 percent); and oxycodone products (from 8.9 to 10.1 percent).

19.2 percent of unemployed adults aged 18 or older were current illicit drug users compared with 8.0 percent of those employed full time and 10.3 percent of those employed part time. However, of the 16.4 million illicit drug users aged 18 or older in 2004, 12.3 million (75.2 percent) were employed either full or part time.

121 million Americans aged 12 or older were current drinkers of alcohol in 2004 (50.3 percent). 55 million (22.8 percent) participated in binge drinking, defined as five or more drinks on at least one occasion in the 30 days prior to the survey. 16.7 million (6.9 percent) were heavy drinkers, defined as binge drinking on 5 or more days in the past month. These numbers are all similar to the corresponding estimates for 2002 and 2003.

The highest prevalence of binge and heavy drinking in 2004 was for young adults aged 18 to 25 (41.2 and 15.1 percent, respectively). The peak rate of both measures occurred at age 21 (48.2 and 19.2 percent, respectively).

The rate of underage drinking remained the same in 2004 as in 2002 and 2003. About 10.8 million persons aged 12 to 20 reported drinking alcohol in the month prior to the survey interview in 2004 (28.7 percent of this age group). Of these, nearly 7.4 million (19.6 percent) were binge drinkers, and 2.4 million (6.3 percent) were heavy drinkers.

32.5 million persons aged 12 or older in 2004 (13.5 percent) drove under the influence of alcohol at least once in the 12 months prior to the interview. This was similar to the rate in 2003.

Based on a new approach to estimating incidence, the 2004 NSDUH shows that the illicit drug category with the largest number of new users was nonmedical use of pain relievers. 2.4 million persons used pain relievers nonmedically for the first time within the past 12 months. The average age at first use among these new initiates was 23.3 years.

In 2004, 2.1 million persons had used marijuana for the first time within the past 12 months. This estimate was not significantly different from the number in 2003 (2.0 million). The average age at first use among the 2.1 million recent marijuana initiates was 18.0 years. Most (63.8 percent) of the recent initiates were younger than age 18 when they first used.

In 2004, 4.4 million persons had used alcohol for the first time within the past 12 months. The number of alcohol initiates increased from 3.9 million in 2002 and 4.1 million in 2003. Most (86.9 percent) of the 4.4 million recent alcohol initiates in 2004 were younger than age 21 at the time of initiation.