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Date: 10/18/2007
Media Contact: SAMHSA Press Office
Telephone: 240-276-2130
NEW REPORT PROVIDES STARTLING LOOK AT SUBSTANCE ABUSE ON AN AVERAGE DAY
IN THE LIFE OF AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS
Number of Adolescents Using Marijuana on an Average
Day Vastly Exceeds Half of the Number of All Students Registered in
New York City Schools
On an average day, nearly 1.2 million teenagers smoked cigarettes, 631,000
drank, and 586,000 used marijuana, according to the latest data, in
a first-of-a kind report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The report, which highlights the substance abuse behavior and addiction
treatment activities that occur among adolescents on an average day,
draws on national surveys conducted and analyzed by SAMHSA's Office
of Applied Studies.
The report, A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance
Use Facts, presents a stark picture of the daily toll substance
abuse takes on America's young.
Among the report's major findings is that on any given day during 2006
nearly 1.2 million adolescents ages 12 to 17 smoked cigarettes, 631,000
drank alcohol, 586,000 used marijuana. In addition, each day nearly
50,000 adolescents used inhalants, 27,000 used hallucinogens, 13,000
used cocaine and 3,800 used heroin.
To provide some perspective on these figures, the nationwide number
of adolescents using marijuana on an average day equals more than half
the total number of students enrolled in New York City's public school
system during the 2006-07 school year.
"While other studies have shown that significant progress has been
made in lowering the levels of substance abuse among young people in
the last few years, this report shows many young people are still engaging
in risky behavior," said SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, Ph.D.
Cline spoke at the Double Jeopardy CASACONFERENCE on co-occurring substance
abuse and mental health disorder in young people at The National Center
on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
"By breaking the data down and analyzing it on a day-to-day basis,
we gain a fresh perspective on how deeply substance abuse pervades the
lives of many young people and their families," Cline said.
The report also sheds light on how many adolescents ages 12 to 17 used
illegal substances for the first time. On an average day in 2006:
* Nearly 8,000 adolescents drank alcohol for the first time;
* Approximately 4,300 adolescents used an illicit drug for the first
time;
* Around 4,000 adolescents smoked cigarettes for the first time;
* Nearly 3,600 adolescents used marijuana for the first time; and
* Approximately 2,500 adolescents abused pain relievers for the first
time.
The report also analyzes the most recent available data to indicate
how many people under age 18 were receiving treatment for a substance
abuse problem during an average day in 2005. These numbers included:
* Over 76,000 in outpatient treatment,
* More than 10,000 in non-hospital residential treatment, and
* Over 1,000 in hospital inpatient treatment.
This report was drawn from SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and
Health, SAMHSA's Treatment Episode Data Set, and SAMHSA's National Survey
of Substance Abuse Treatment Services, and contains many other important
facts about adolescent substance abuse, treatment and treatment admissions
patterns.
The full report is available at http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k7/youthFacts/youth.cfm
Copies may be obtained free of charge by calling SAMHSA's Health Information
Network at 1-877-SAMHSA-7 (1-877-726-4727). For related publications
and information, visit http://www.samhsa.gov
SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and
Human Services. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability,
capacity, and effectiveness of the nation's substance abuse prevention,
addictions treatment, and mental health services delivery system.
