1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

Age

Race/Ethnicity

Gender

Region/Urbanicity

Education

Employment

2. ANY ILLICIT DRUG USE

• In 1998, an estimated 13.6 million Americans were current illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug in the month prior to interview. This represents 6.2 percent of the population 12 years old and older.
• Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, used by 81 percent of current illicit drug users. Approximately 60 percent of current illicit drug users used only marijuana, 21 percent used marijuana and another illicit drug, and the remaining 19 percent used an illicit drug but not marijuana in the past month. Therefore, about 40 percent of current illicit drug users in 1998 (an estimated 5.4 million Americans) were current users of illicit drugs other than marijuana and hashish (with or without the use of marijuana) (Figure 1).

• The number of current illicit drug users did not change significantly between 1997 and 1998 (13.9 and 13.6 million, respectively). The number of current illicit drug users was at its highest level in 1979 (25.4 million, 14.1 percent), declined until 1992 (12.0 million, 5.8 percent), and appears to have increased slightly, but this increase is not statistically significant (Figure 2).
• Rates of use of marijuana, psychotherapeutics, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and inhalants in the total population age 12 and older did not change between 1997 and 1998 (Figure 3). The rate of hallucinogen use increased and the rate of tranquilizer use decreased between 1992 and 1998.

Age

° Rates of drug use show substantial variation by age. Among youth age 12-13, 2.9 percent were current illicit drug users. The highest rates were found among young people ages 16-17 (16.4 percent), age 18-20 (19.9 percent), and age 21-25 (13.5 percent). The rates of use generally decline in each successively older age group, with only 0.7 percent of persons age 50 and older reporting current illicit use (Figure 4).

° Nearly half of young adults age 21-29 had tried illicit drugs at least once in their lifetime, and 10.6 percent were current users. More than half of adults age 30-44 had tried illicit drugs, but rate of current use was only 6.8 percent for those age 30-44.

° In 1998, about a third (32.3 percent) of illicit drug users were age 35 and older. This has not changed much since 1991, when 29.4 percent of illicit drug users were age 35 and older. In 1979, the peak year for drug use prevalence, only 10.3 percent of drug users were age 35 and older.

°The percentage of adolescents (12-17 years old) using drugs decreased between 1997 and 1998 from 11.4 percent to 9.9 percent. In 1992, the rate of past month use among youth age 12-17 reached a low of 5.3 percent, the result of a decline from 16.3 percent in 1979. By 1995 the rate had climbed back up to 10.9 percent. Since then the rate has fluctuated from 9 to 11 percent (Figure 5). These trends are generally consistent with data from the Monitoring the Future surveys of students, which indicate increasing use from 1992 to1996, a leveling in 1997, and a slight decrease in 1998.

° Between 1997 and 1998, the percentage of adults reporting past month illicit drug use remained about the same. In 1998 the rates were 16.1 percent for persons age 18-25, 7.0 percent for those age 26-34, and 3.3 percent for those age 35 and older (Figure 5).

° The rate of past month illicit drug use among youths was higher among those that were currently using cigarettes or alcohol, compared with youths not using cigarettes or alcohol. In 1998, 3.4 percent of youth nonsmokers used illicit drugs, while among youths who used cigarettes, the rate of past month illicit drug use was 39.1 percent. The rate of illicit drug use was also associated with the level of alcohol use. Among youths who were heavy drinkers in 1998, 68.5 percent were also current illicit drug users. Among nondrinkers, only 2.9 percent were current illicit drug users.

Race/Ethnicity

° With respect to absolute numbers, most current illicit drug users are white. There were an estimated 9.9 million whites (72 percent of all users), 2.0 million blacks (15 percent), and 1.4 million Hispanics (10 percent) who were current illicit drug users in 1998.

° There were no changes in rates between 1997 and 1998 for any of the racial/ethnic groups for age 12 and older.

Gender

Region/Urbanicity

° The rates of illicit drug use in metropolitan areas are higher than rates in nonmetropolitan areas. Rates were 6.4 percent in large metropolitan areas, 7.0 percent in small metropolitan areas, and 4.6 percent in nonmetropolitan areas.

° Rural nonmetropolitan areas have lower rates of illicit drug use than other areas. Average annual rates for 1997 and 1998 were 4.5 percent in rural areas and 6.6 percent in non-rural areas. Among youth, a similar pattern held, with 8.0 percent of rural youth and 11.2 percent of non-rural youth using illicit drugs in the past month (Figure 6).

Education

Employment

° Although the rate of drug use is higher among the unemployed, most drug users are employed. Of the 11.4 million adult illicit drug users, 8.3 million (73 percent) were employed either full time or part time.

This page was last updated on June 01, 2008.

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