1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

Table 6. Percentages Reporting Lifetime, Past Year, and Past Month Use of Illicit Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco in the U.S. Population Aged 12 and Older:  1997 and 1998  

	TIME PERIOD
	Lifetime		Past Year		Past Month
Drug	1997	1998	1997	1998	1997	1998
Any Illicit Drug1	35.6	35.8	11.2	10.6	6.4	6.2
Marijuana and Hashish	32.9	33.0	9.0	8.6	5.1	5.0
Cocaine	10.5	10.6	1.9	1.7	0.7	0.8
Crack	1.9	2.0	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.2
Inhalants	5.7	5.8	1.1	0.9	0.4	0.3
Hallucinogens	9.6	9.9	1.9	1.6	0.8	0.7
PCP	3.0	3.5	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.0
LSD	7.8	7.9	0.9	0.8	0.2	0.3
Heroin	0.9	1.1	0.3a	0.1	0.2	0.1
Nonmedical Use of Any Psychotherapeutic2	9.1	9.2	2.8	2.6	1.2	1.1
Stimulants	4.5	4.4	0.8	0.7	0.3	0.3
Sedatives	1.9	2.1	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.1
Tranquilizers	3.2	3.5	1.0	0.9	0.4	0.3
Analgesics	4.9	5.3	1.9	1.9	0.7	0.8
Any Illicit Drug Other than Marijuana1	18.9	18.9	5.5	4.9	2.6	2.5
Alcohol	81.9	81.3	64.1	64.0	51.4	51.7
"Binge" Alcohol Use3	--	--	--	--	15.3	15.6
Heavy Alcohol Use3	--	--	--	--	5.4	5.9
Cigarettes	70.5	69.7	32.7a	30.6	29.6a	27.7
Smokeless Tobacco	17.3	17.2	4.7	4.4	3.2	3.1

*Low precision; no estimate reported.

-- Not available.

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 1997 and 1998 is statistically significant at the .05 level.

^bDifference between 1997 and 1998 is statistically significant at the .01 level.

Source: SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997 and 1998.

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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.