NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY ON DRUG ABUSE: needle use

1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

Needle Use (Table 10.5)

Approximately 2.3 million (1.1%) of the 216 million persons represented in the 1997 NHSDA reported illicit drug use with needles in their lifetime (OAS, 1998b, Table 19). As indicated in Table 10.5, persons aged 18 or older were two to three times more likely than youths aged 12 to 17 to have used an illicit drug with a needle. In the total population and among the 35 or older age group, needle use was more common among males than females. Among the two youngest age groups, needle use was more prevalent among whites than among Hispanics, and it was more prevalent among whites than among blacks in the 12 to 17 age group.23

Although the prevalence of needle use did not vary significantly among respondents in the various employment categories, rates of lifetime needle use did vary by educational achievement. Overall, needle use was reported most often by adults with some college education (1.8%) and those with less than a high school education (1.7%), and least often among college graduates (0.5%). The lifetime prevalence rate was highest among 26 to 34 year olds without a high school diploma (3%).

23 In the interest of readability for this report, "white" is used to indicate "white, non-Hispanic," and "black" to indicate "black, non-Hispanic."

This page was last updated on June 16, 2008.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.

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