1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

Table 3A. Estimated Numbers (in Thousands) of Lifetime Users of Illicit Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco in the U.S. Population Aged 12 and Older: 1979-1998

 

Drug	1979	1985	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
Any Illicit Drug1	56,414b	66,172b	69,256b	68,528b	70,776a	71,935b	72,426b	74,390	76,960	78,123
Marijuana and Hashish	50,322b	56,547b	61,900b	62,075b	64,149a	65,229b	65,545b	68,571	71,112	72,070
Cocaine	15,541b	21,495	23,271	22,482	23,369	21,821	21,700	22,130	22,597	23,089
Crack	--	--	4,194	3,010b	4,034	4,042	3,895	4,628	4,208	4,476
Inhalants	--	15,167	12,300	10,988	12,240	12,178	12,016	11,909	12,335	12,589
Hallucinogens	16,016b	13,221b	17,007b	17,065b	18,743	18,217b	20,129	20,699	20,656	21,607
PCP	--	3,811b	4,936b	5,550b	5,683a	5,911b	6,718	6,755	6,480	7,640
LSD	--	8,889b	13,045b	13,681b	14,471	14,711a	15,852	16,400	16,760	17,223
Heroin	2,324	1,826	2,433	1,687	2,102	2,083	2,451	2,444	2,019	2,371
Nonmedical Use of Any Psychotherapeutic2	--	29,386b	24,053a	22,552	21,793	20,926	21,446	20,409	19,671	20,193
Stimulants	--	14,139b	11,385	10,284	10,007	9,671	10,360	10,075	9,781	9,614
Sedatives	--	9,260b	6,482a	5,309	5,320	5,460	5,760	4,866	4,080	4,640
Tranquilizers	--	14,692b	10,445a	9,766	8,751	8,390	8,251	7,774	6,931	7,726
Analgesics	--	14,693a	13,782	12,634	13,324	12,552	12,806	11,799	10,677	11,595
Any Illicit Drug other than Marijuana1	--	43,130	40,228	38,923	40,803	39,383	40,426	40,375	40,948	41,337
Alcohol	159,525b	163,608a	169,640	168,572	171,167	176,290	174,182	176,707	177,112	177,512
"Binge" Alcohol Use3	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Heavy Alcohol Use3	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Cigarettes	--	150,233	151,922	150,283	151,936	153,509	151,917	153,252	152,476	152,313
Smokeless Tobacco	--	--	35,420	37,538	32,862	36,042	35,899	36,369	37,445	37,667

-- Not available.

NOTE: The population distributions for the 1993 through 1998 NHSDAs are post-stratified to population projections of totals based on the 1990 decennial census. The 1979 NHSDA used population projections based on the 1970 census; NHSDAs from 1982 through 1992 used projections based on the 1980 census. The change from one census base to another has little effect on estimated percentages reporting drug use, but may have a significant effect on estimates of number of drug users in some subpopulation groups.

NOTE: Estimates for 1979 through 1993 may differ from estimates for these survey years that were published in other NHSDA reports. The estimates shown here for 1979 through 1993 have been adjusted to improve their comparability with estimates based on the new version of the NHSDA instrument that was fielded in 1994 and subsequent NHSDAs. For 1979 and 1982, estimates are not shown (as indicated by --) where (a) the relevant data were not collected, or (b) the data for those drugs were based on measures that differed appreciably from those used in the other survey years. Consequently, adjustments to the 1979 and 1982 data were made only for those drugs whose measures were comparable to those in the other survey years.


Because of the methodology used to adjust the 1979 through 1993 estimates, some logical inconsistency may exist between estimates for a given drug within the same survey year. For example, some adjusted estimates of past year use may appear to be greater then adjusted lifetime estimates. These inconsistencies tend to be small, rare and not statistically significant.


¹ Any Illicit Drug indicates use at least once of marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), inhalants, hallucinogens (including PCP and LSD), heroin, or any prescription-type psychotherapeutic used nonmedically. Any Illicit Drug Other than Marijuana indicates use at least once of any of these listed drugs, regardless of marijuana/hashish use; marijuana/hashish users who also have used any of the other listed drugs are included.

² Nonmedical use of any prescription-type stimulant, sedative, tranquilizer, or analgesic; does not include over-the-counter-drugs.

³ "Binge" Alcohol Use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion on at least one day in the past 30 days. By "occasion" is meant at the same time or within a couple hours of each other. Heavy Alcohol Use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion on each of five or more days in the past 30 days; all Heavy Alcohol Users are also "Binge" Alcohol Users.

^aDifference between estimate and 1998 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.

^bDifference between estimate and 1998 estimate is statistically significant at the .01 level.

Source: SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

This page was last updated on June 01, 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.