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2005 National Survey on Drug Use & Health: National Results

Highlights

This report presents the first information from the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The survey is the primary source of information on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older. The survey interviews approximately 67,500 persons each year. Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons in this report described using terms such as "increased," "decreased," or "more than" are statistically significant at the .05 level.

Illicit Drug Use

In 2005, an estimated 19.7 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview. This estimate represents 8.1 percent of the population aged 12 years old or older. Illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics used nonmedically.
The rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older in 2005 (8.1 percent) was similar to the rate in 2004 (7.9 percent), 2003 (8.2 percent), and 2002 (8.3 percent).
Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug (14.6 million past month users). Among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of past month marijuana use was about the same in 2005 (6.0 percent) as in 2004 (6.1 percent), 2003 (6.2 percent), and 2002 (6.2 percent).
In 2005, there were 2.4 million current cocaine users aged 12 or older, which is more than in 2004 when the number was 2.0 million. However, the change in the rate of current use of cocaine between 2005 and 2004 (1.0 and 0.8 percent, respectively) was not statistically significant.
Hallucinogens were used in the past month by 1.1 million persons (0.4 percent) aged 12 or older in 2005, including 502,000 (0.2 percent) who had used Ecstasy. These estimates are similar to the corresponding estimates for 2004.
There were 6.4 million (2.6 percent) persons aged 12 or older who used prescription-type psychotherapeutic drugs nonmedically in the past month. Of these, 4.7 million used pain relievers, 1.8 million used tranquilizers, 1.1 million used stimulants (including 512,000 using methamphetamine), and 272,000 used sedatives. Each of these estimates is similar to the corresponding estimate for 2004.
The rates for past month and past year methamphetamine use did not change between 2004 and 2005, but the lifetime rate declined from 4.9 to 4.3 percent. From 2002 to 2005, decreases were seen in lifetime (5.3 to 4.3 percent) and past year (0.7 to 0.5 percent) use, but not past month use (0.3 percent in 2002 vs. 0.2 percent in 2005). Although the number of past month users has remained steady since 2002, the number of methamphetamine users who were dependent on or abused some illicit drug did rise significantly during this period, from 164,000 in 2002 to 257,000 in 2005.
The rate of current illicit drug use among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2005 was similar to the rate in 2004, but significantly lower than in 2002. The rates were 11.6 percent in 2002, 11.2 percent in 2003, 10.6 percent in 2004, and 9.9 percent in 2005.
The rate of current marijuana use among youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 7.6 percent in 2004 to 6.8 percent in 2005. The rate of current marijuana use has declined significantly from 8.2 percent in 2002.
There were no significant changes in past month use of any illicit drugs among young adults aged 18 to 25 between 2004 and 2005, except for cocaine use, which increased from 2.1 to 2.6 percent.
Past month nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs among young adults aged 18 to 25 increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.3 percent in 2005. This was primarily due to an increase in pain reliever use, which was 4.1 percent in 2002 and 4.7 percent in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
Among unemployed adults aged 18 or older in 2005, 17.1 percent were current illicit drug users, which was higher than the 8.2 percent of those employed full time and 10.4 percent of those employed part time. However, most drug users were employed. Of the 17.2 million current illicit drug users aged 18 or older in 2005, 12.9 million (74.8 percent) were employed either full or part time.
In 2005, there were 10.5 million persons aged 12 or older who reported driving under the influence of an illicit drug during the past year. This corresponds to 4.3 percent of the population aged 12 or older, similar to the rates in 2003 (4.6 percent) and 2004 (4.4 percent), but lower than the rate in 2002 (4.7 percent). In 2005, the rate was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (13.4 percent).
NSDUH includes questions for nonmedical users of prescription-type psychotherapeutic drugs regarding how they obtained the drugs they recently used nonmedically. In 2005, the most prevalent source from which recently used drugs were obtained among nonmedical users of prescription-type drugs was "from a friend or relative for free."
Among persons aged 12 or older who used pain relievers nonmedically in the past 12 months, 59.8 percent reported that the source of the drug the most recent time they used was from a friend or relative for free. Another 16.8 percent reported they got the drug from one doctor. Only 4.3 percent got the pain relievers from a drug dealer or other stranger, and only 0.8 percent reported buying the drug on the Internet.

Alcohol Use

Slightly more than half of Americans aged 12 or older reported being current drinkers of alcohol in the 2005 survey (51.8 percent). This translates to an estimated 126 million people, which is higher than the 2004 estimate of 121 million people (50.3 percent).
More than one fifth (22.7 percent) of persons aged 12 or older participated in binge drinking (having five or more drinks on the same occasion on at least 1 day in the 30 days prior to the survey) in 2005. This translates to about 55 million people, comparable with the estimate in 2004.
In 2005, heavy drinking was reported by 6.6 percent of the population aged 12 or older, or 16 million people. This rate is similar to the rate of heavy drinking in 2004 (6.9 percent). Heavy drinking is defined as binge drinking on at least 5 days in the past 30 days.
In 2005, among young adults aged 18 to 25, the rate of binge drinking was 41.9 percent, and the rate of heavy drinking was 15.3 percent. These rates are similar to the rates in 2002, 2003, and 2004.
The rate of current alcohol use among youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 17.6 percent in 2004 to 16.5 percent in 2005. Youth binge drinking also declined during that period, from 11.1 to 9.9 percent, but heavy drinking did not change significantly (2.7 percent in 2004 and 2.4 percent in 2005).
Although there were declines in past month and binge alcohol use among youths aged 12 to 17 between 2004 and 2005, overall underage (persons aged 12 to 20) past month and binge drinking rates have remained essentially unchanged since 2002. In 2005, about 10.8 million persons aged 12 to 20 (28.2 percent of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Nearly 7.2 million (18.8 percent) were binge drinkers, and 2.3 million (6.0 percent) were heavy drinkers.
Among persons aged 12 to 20, past month alcohol use rates were 12.0 percent among Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, 15.5 percent among Asians, 19.0 percent among blacks, 21.7 percent among American Indians or Alaska Natives, 24.0 percent among those reporting two or more races, 25.9 percent among Hispanics, and 32.3 percent among whites.
In 2005, an estimated 13.0 percent of persons aged 12 or older drove under the influence of alcohol at least once in the past year. This percentage has dropped since 2002, when it was 14.2 percent. The 2005 estimate corresponds to 31.7 million persons.

Tobacco Use

In 2005, an estimated 71.5 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) users of a tobacco product. This represents 29.4 percent of the population in that age range. In addition, 60.5 million persons (24.9 percent of the population) were current cigarette smokers; 13.6 million (5.6 percent) smoked cigars; 7.7 million (3.2 percent) used smokeless tobacco; and 2.2 million (0.9 percent) smoked tobacco in pipes.
The rates of current use of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars, and pipe tobacco were unchanged between 2004 and 2005 among persons aged 12 or older. However, between 2002 and 2005, past month use of a tobacco product declined from 30.4 to 29.4 percent, and past month cigarette use decreased from 26.0 to 24.9 percent.
The rate of past month cigarette use among 12 to 17 year olds declined from 13.0 percent in 2002 to 10.8 percent in 2005. Cigar use in the past month declined to 4.2 percent of youths in 2005 from the 2004 estimate of 4.8 percent. Past month smokeless tobacco use was reported by 2.1 percent of youths in 2005, similar to estimates since 2002.
Among pregnant women aged 15 to 44, combined data for 2004 and 2005 indicated that the rate of past month cigarette use was 16.6 percent. The rate was higher among women in that age group who were not pregnant (29.6 percent).

Initiation of Substance Use (Incidence, or First-Time Use)

The illicit drug categories with the largest number of recent initiates among persons aged 12 or older were nonmedical use of pain relievers (2.2 million) and marijuana use (2.1 million). These estimates are not significantly different from the numbers in 2004.
In 2005, there were 877,000 persons aged 12 or older who had used inhalants for the first time within the past 12 months; 72.3 percent were under age 18 when they first used. There was no significant change in the number of inhalant initiates from 2002 to 2005.
The number of recent new users of methamphetamine taken nonmedically among persons aged 12 or older was 192,000 in 2005. Between 2002 and 2004, the number of methamphetamine initiates remained steady at around 300,000 per year, but there was a decline from 2004 (318,000 initiates) to 2005.
Most (88.9 percent) of the 4.3 million recent alcohol initiates were younger than 21 at the time of initiation.
The number of persons aged 12 or older who smoked cigarettes for the first time within the past 12 months was 2.3 million in 2005, which was significantly greater than the estimate for 2002 (1.9 million). Most new smokers in 2005 were under age 18 when they first smoked cigarettes (63.4 percent).

Youth Prevention-Related Measures

Perceived risk is measured by NSDUH as the percentage reporting that there is great risk in the substance use behavior. Among youths aged 12 to 17, there were no changes in the perceived risk of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or LSD use between 2004 and 2005. However, between 2002 and 2005, there were increases in the perceived risk of smoking marijuana once a month (from 32.4 to 34.0 percent) and smoking marijuana once or twice a week (from 51.5 to 55.0 percent). On the other hand, the percentage of youths who perceived that trying heroin once or twice is a great risk declined from 58.5 percent in 2002 to 56.5 percent in 2005, and those who perceived that using cocaine once a month is a great risk declined from 50.5 to 48.8 percent.
The proportion of youths aged 12 to 17 who reported perceiving great risk from smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day increased from 63.1 percent in 2002 to 68.3 percent in 2005.
Over half (51.0 percent) of youths aged 12 to 17 reported in 2005 that it would be "fairly easy" or "very easy" for them to obtain marijuana if they wanted some. Around one quarter reported it would be easy to get cocaine (24.9 percent) or crack (25.3 percent). One in seven (14.0 percent) indicated that heroin would be "fairly" or "very" easily available, and about one in six (15.7 percent) said it would be easy for them to get LSD if they wanted some.
The perceived availability among youths decreased between 2002 and 2005 for marijuana (from 55.0 to 51.0 percent), crack (from 26.5 to 25.3 percent), heroin (from 15.8 to 14.0 percent), and LSD (from 19.4 to 15.7 percent). However, the percentage reporting that it would be easy to obtain cocaine showed no decline over this period (25.0 percent in 2002 and 24.9 percent in 2005).
A majority of youths (90.2 percent) reported that their parents would strongly disapprove of their trying marijuana or hashish once or twice. Current marijuana use was much less prevalent among youths who perceived strong parental disapproval for trying marijuana or hashish once or twice than for those who did not (4.6 vs. 27.0 percent).
Almost four fifths (77.9 percent) of youths aged 12 to 17 enrolled in school reported in 2005 they had seen or heard drug or alcohol prevention messages at school in the past year, a percentage similar to the 2004 estimate of 78.2 percent. Past month use of an illicit drug was lower for youths exposed to such messages in school (9.2 percent) than for youths not reporting such exposure (13.2 percent).

Substance Dependence, Abuse, and Treatment

In 2005, an estimated 22.2 million persons (9.1 percent of the population aged 12 or older) were classified with substance dependence or abuse in the past year based on criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4^th edition (DSM-IV). Of these, 3.3 million were classified with dependence on or abuse of both alcohol and illicit drugs, 3.6 million were dependent on or abused illicit drugs but not alcohol, and 15.4 million were dependent on or abused alcohol but not illicit drugs.
Between 2002 and 2005, there was no change in the number of persons with substance dependence or abuse (22.0 million in 2002, 21.6 million in 2003, 22.5 million in 2004, and 22.2 million in 2005).
The specific illicit drugs that had the highest levels of past year dependence or abuse in 2005 were marijuana (4.1 million), followed by cocaine (1.5 million) and pain relievers (1.5 million).
Adults aged 21 or older who had first used alcohol before age 21 were more likely than adults who had their first drink at age 21 or older to be classified with alcohol dependence or abuse (9.6 vs. 2.1 percent).
There were 3.9 million persons aged 12 or older (1.6 percent of the population) who received some kind of treatment for a problem related to the use of alcohol or illicit drugs in 2005. More than half (2.1 million) received treatment at a self-help group. There were 1.5 million persons who received treatment at a rehabilitation facility as an outpatient, 1.1 million at a rehabilitation facility as an inpatient, 1.0 million at a mental health center as an outpatient, 773,000 at a hospital as an inpatient, 460,000 at a private doctor's office, 399,000 at an emergency room, and 344,000 at a prison or jail. None of these estimates changed significantly between 2004 and 2005.
More than half (2.5 million) of the 3.9 million persons who received treatment for a substance use problem in the past year received treatment for alcohol use during their most recent treatment. There were 1.1 million persons who received treatment for marijuana use during their most recent treatment. Estimates for other drugs were 797,000 persons for cocaine, 466,000 for pain relievers, 358,000 for hallucinogens, 351,000 for stimulants, and 326,000 for heroin. (Note that respondents could indicate that they received treatment for more than one substance during their most recent treatment.)
In 2005, the number of persons aged 12 or older needing treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem was 23.2 million (9.5 percent of the population aged 12 or older). Of these, 2.3 million (0.9 percent of persons aged 12 or older and 10.0 percent of those who needed treatment) received treatment at a specialty facility. Thus, there were 20.9 million persons (8.6 percent of the population aged 12 or older) who needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem but did not receive treatment at a specialty substance abuse facility in the past year.
Of the 20.9 million people in 2005 who were classified as needing substance use treatment but did not receive treatment at a specialty facility in the past year, 1.2 million persons (5.6 percent) reported that they felt they needed treatment for their illicit drug or alcohol use problem. Of these 1.2 million persons who felt they needed treatment, 296,000 (25.5 percent) reported that they made an effort to get treatment, and 865,000 (74.5 percent) reported making no effort to get treatment.
The number of people who felt they needed treatment and made an effort to get it among those who needed but did not receive treatment was not statistically different in 2005 (296,000) from the number reported in 2004 (441,000).

Prevalence and Treatment of Mental Health Problems

Serious psychological distress (SPD) is an overall indicator of past year nonspecific psychological distress that is constructed from the K6 scale administered to adults aged 18 or older in NSDUH. The data related to SPD in this report are not comparable with data in previous reports due to changes in the survey administration of this instrument.
In 2005, there were an estimated 24.6 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with SPD in the past year. This represents 11.3 percent of all adults in this country, a significantly lower rate than in 2004 (12.2 percent).
Rates of SPD in 2005 were highest for adults aged 18 to 25 (18.6 percent) and lowest for adults aged 50 or older (7.1 percent).
The prevalence of SPD among women aged 18 or older (14.0 percent) was higher than that among men in that age group (8.4 percent).
SPD in the past year was associated with past year substance dependence or abuse in 2005. Among adults with SPD in 2005, 21.3 percent (5.2 million) were dependent on or abused illicit drugs or alcohol. The rate among adults without SPD was 7.7 percent (14.9 million).
Among the 24.6 million adults with SPD in 2005, 11.1 million (45.3 percent) received treatment for a mental health problem in the past year. This was a higher proportion than in 2004 (41.6 percent). Among adults with SPD, 39.4 percent received a prescription medication, 28.5 percent received outpatient treatment, and 4.6 percent received inpatient treatment for a mental health problem in the past year.
Among the 5.2 million adults with both SPD and substance dependence or abuse (i.e., a substance use disorder) in 2005, about half (47.0 percent) received mental health treatment or substance use treatment at a specialty facility: 8.5 percent received both treatment for mental health problems and specialty substance use treatment, 34.3 percent received only treatment for mental health problems, and 4.1 percent received only specialty substance use treatment.
In 2005, there were 30.8 million adults (14.2 percent of persons aged 18 or older) who had at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in their lifetime, and 15.8 million adults (7.3 percent of persons aged 18 or older) had at least one MDE in the past year. In 2004, there were 17.1 million adults (8.0 percent) who had MDE during the past year. This represents a statistically significant decline in the rate of past year MDE between 2004 and 2005.
Having MDE in the past year was associated with past year substance dependence or abuse in 2005. Among adults who had MDE in 2005, 19.9 percent were dependent on or abused alcohol or illicit drugs, while among persons without MDE only 8.4 percent were dependent on or abused alcohol or illicit drugs. Persons with MDE were more likely than those without MDE to be dependent on or abuse illicit drugs (8.3 vs. 2.1 percent) and alcohol (14.8 vs. 7.4 percent).
Among adults aged 18 or older who had MDE in the past year, 65.6 percent received treatment (i.e., saw or talked to a medical doctor or other professional or used prescription medication) for depression in the same time period.
Among adults aged 18 or older with MDE in the past year in 2005, women were more likely than men to receive treatment for depression in the past year (70.9 vs. 55.6 percent).
In 2005, there were 3.4 million youths aged 12 to 17 years (13.7 percent of the population aged 12 to 17 years old) who had at least one MDE in their lifetime and 2.2 million youths (8.8 percent) who had MDE during the past year.
The rate of MDE in the past year was higher for adolescent females (13.3 percent) than for adolescent males (4.5 percent).
The occurrence of MDE in the past year among youths aged 12 to 17 was associated with a higher prevalence of illicit drug or alcohol dependence or abuse (19.8 percent). Among youths who did not report past year MDE, 6.9 percent had illicit drug or alcohol dependence or abuse during the same period.
In 2005, 37.8 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 with past year MDE received treatment for depression (saw or talked to a medical doctor or other professional or used prescription medication).

2005 National Survey on Drug Use & Health: National Results

1. Introduction

This report presents the first information from the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older. Prior to 2002, the survey name was the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). This initial report on the 2005 data presents national estimates of rates of use, numbers of users, and other measures related to illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco products. Measures related to mental health problems also are presented, including data on depression and on the co-occurrence of substance use and mental health problems. Estimates from NSDUH for States and areas within States will be presented in separate reports.

A major focus of this report is a comparison of substance use prevalence estimates between 2004 and 2005. Trends since 2002 also are discussed for some measures. Because of improvements to the survey in 2002, the 2002 data constitute a new baseline for tracking trends in substance use and other measures. Therefore, estimates from the 2002 through 2005 NSDUHs should not be compared with estimates from the 2001 and earlier surveys in the series to assess changes in substance use and mental health problems over time.

1.1. Summary of NSDUH

NSDUH is the primary source of statistical information on the use of illegal drugs by the U.S. population. Conducted by the Federal Government since 1971, the survey collects data by administering questionnaires to a representative sample of the population through face-to-face interviews at the respondent's place of residence. The survey is sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is planned and managed by SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies (OAS). Data collection is conducted under contract with RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.¹ This section briefly describes the survey methodology; a more complete description is provided in Appendix A.

NSDUH collects information from residents of households and noninstitutional group quarters (e.g., shelters, rooming houses, dormitories) and from civilians living on military bases. The survey excludes homeless persons who do not use shelters, military personnel on active duty, and residents of institutional group quarters, such as jails and hospitals. Appendix D describes surveys that cover populations outside the NSDUH target population.

Since 1999, the NSDUH interview has been carried out using computer-assisted interviewing (CAI). Most of the questions are administered with audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI). ACASI is designed to provide the respondent with a highly private and confidential means of responding to questions to increase the level of honest reporting of illicit drug use and other sensitive behaviors. Less sensitive items are administered by interviewers using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI).

The 2005 NSDUH employed a State-based design with an independent, multistage area probability sample within each State and the District of Columbia. The eight States with the largest population (which together account for 48 percent of the total U.S. population aged 12 or older) were designated as large sample States (California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas). For these States, the design provided a sample sufficient to support direct State estimates. For the remaining 42 States and the District of Columbia, smaller, but adequate, samples support State estimates using small area estimation (SAE) techniques. The design oversampled youths and young adults, so that each State's sample was approximately equally distributed among three age groups: 12 to 17 years, 18 to 25 years, and 26 years or older.

Nationally, 134,055 addresses were screened for the 2005 survey, and 68,308 completed interviews were obtained. The survey was conducted from January through December 2005. Weighted response rates for household screening and for interviewing were 91.3 and 76.2 percent, respectively. See Appendix B for more information on NSDUH response rates.

1.2. Trend Measurement

Although the design of the 2002 through 2005 NSDUHs is similar to the design of the 1999 through 2001 surveys, there are important methodological differences that affect the comparability of the 2002-2005 estimates with estimates from prior surveys. In addition to the name change, each NSDUH respondent completing the interview is now given an incentive payment of $30. These changes, implemented in 2002 and continued subsequently, resulted in an improvement in the response rate, but also affected respondents' reporting of items that are the basis of prevalence measures produced each year. Comparability also may be affected by improved data collection quality control procedures that were introduced beginning in 2001 and by the incorporation of new population data from the 2000 decennial census into NSDUH sample weighting procedures. Analyses of the effects of these factors on NSDUH estimates have shown that 2002 and later data should not be compared with 2001 and earlier data from the survey series to assess changes over time. Appendix C of the 2004 NSDUH report on national findings discusses this issue in more detail (see OAS, 2005).

1.3. Format of Report and Explanation of Tables

This report has separate chapters that discuss the national findings on seven topics: use of illicit drugs; use of alcohol; use of tobacco products; initiation of substance use; prevention-related issues; substance dependence, abuse, and treatment; and mental health problems and treatment. A final chapter summarizes the results and discusses key findings in relation to other research and survey results. Technical appendices describe the survey (Appendix A), provide technical details on the statistical methods and measurement (Appendix B), offer key NSDUH definitions (Appendix C), discuss other sources of related data (Appendix D), list the references cited in the report (as well as other relevant references) (Appendix E), and present selected tabulations of estimates (Appendices F and G).

Tables, text, and figures present prevalence measures for the population in terms of both the number of persons and the percentage of the population. Substance use tables show prevalence estimates by lifetime (i.e., ever used), past year, and past month use. Analyses focus primarily on past month use, which also is referred to as "current use." Tables and figures in which estimates are presented by year have footnotes indicating whether the 2005 estimates are significantly different from 2004 or earlier estimates.

Statistical tests have been conducted for all statements appearing in the text of the report that compare estimates between years or subgroups of the population. Unless explicitly stated that a difference is not statistically significant, all statements that describe differences are significant at the .05 level. Statistically significant differences are described using terms such as "higher," "lower," "increased," and "decreased." Statements that use terms such as "similar," "no difference," "same," or "remained steady" to describe the relationship between estimates denote that a difference is not statistically significant. In addition, a set of estimates for survey years or population subgroups may be presented without a statement of comparison, in which case a statistically significant difference between these estimates is not implied and testing was not conducted.

All estimates presented in the report have met the criteria for statistical reliability (see Section B.2.2 of Appendix B). Estimates that do not meet these criteria are suppressed and do not appear in tables, figures, or text. Also, subgroups with suppressed estimates are not included in statistical tests of comparisons. For example, a statement that "whites had the highest prevalence" means that the rate among whites was higher than the rate among all nonsuppressed racial/ethnic subgroups, but not necessarily higher than the rate among a subgroup for which the estimate was suppressed.

Data are presented for racial/ethnic groups based on current guidelines for collecting and reporting race and ethnicity data (Office of Management and Budget [OMB], 1997). Because respondents were allowed to choose more than one racial group, a "two or more races" category is presented that includes persons who reported more than one category among the basic groups listed in the survey question (white, black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, Asian, Other). Respondents choosing both Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander but no other categories mentioned above are classified in the combined "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander" category instead of the "two or more race" category. It should be noted that, except for the "Hispanic or Latino" group, the racial/ethnic groups discussed in this report include only non-Hispanics. The category "Hispanic or Latino" includes Hispanics of any race.

Data also are presented for four U.S. geographic regions and nine geographic divisions within these regions. These regions and divisions, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, consist of the following groups of States:

Northeast Region - New England Division: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont; Middle Atlantic Division: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania.

Midwest Region - East North Central Division: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin; West North Central Division: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota.

South Region - South Atlantic Division: Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia; East South Central Division: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee; West South Central Division: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas.

West Region - Mountain Division: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming; Pacific Division: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington.

Geographic comparisons also are made based on county type, a variable that reflects different levels of urbanicity and metropolitan area inclusion of counties, based on metropolitan area definitions issued by the OMB in June 2003 (OMB, 2003). For this purpose, counties are grouped based on the 2003 rural-urban continuum codes. These codes were originally developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Butler & Beale, 1994). Each county is either inside or outside a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), as defined by the OMB.

Large metropolitan areas have a population of 1 million or more. Small metropolitan areas have a population of fewer than 1 million. Small metropolitan areas are further classified based on whether they have a population of 250,000 or more. Nonmetropolitan areas are areas outside MSAs. Counties in nonmetropolitan areas are further classified based on the number of people in the county who live in an urbanized area, as defined by the Census Bureau at the subcounty level. "Urbanized" counties have a population of 20,000 or more in urbanized areas, "less urbanized" counties have at least 2,500 but fewer than 20,000 population in urbanized areas, and "completely rural" counties have fewer than 2,500 population in urbanized areas.

1.4. Other NSDUH Reports and Data

Other reports focusing on specific topics of interest will be produced using the 2005 NSDUH data and made available on SAMHSA's website. A report on State-level estimates for 2004-2005 will be available in early 2007.

In addition to the tables in Appendices F and G, a more extensive set of tables, including standard errors, is available upon request from OAS or through the Internet at http://www.oas.samhsa.gov. Tables in Appendices F and G can be mapped back to these detailed tables by using the table number in parentheses in the upper left corner of each table (e.g., Table F.1 in Appendix F is Table 9.1N in the detailed tables). Additional methodological information on NSDUH, including the questionnaire, is available electronically at the same Web address. Brief descriptive reports and in-depth analytic reports focusing on specific issues or population groups also are produced by OAS. A complete listing of previously published reports from NSDUH and other data sources is available from OAS. Most of these reports also are available through the Internet (http://www.oas.samhsa.gov). In addition, OAS makes public use data files available to researchers through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA, 2006) at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/SAMHDA/index.html. Currently, files are available from the 1979 to 2004 surveys. The 2005 NSDUH public use file will be available by the end of 2006.

2005 National Survey on Drug Use & Health: National Results

2. Illicit Drug Use

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) obtains information on nine different categories of illicit drug use: use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, and inhalants; and the nonmedical use of prescription-type pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives. In these categories, hashish is included with marijuana, and crack is considered a form of cocaine. Several drugs are grouped under the hallucinogens category, including LSD, PCP, peyote, mescaline, mushrooms, and "Ecstasy" (MDMA). Inhalants include a variety of substances, such as amyl nitrite, cleaning fluids, gasoline, paint, and glue. The four categories of prescription-type drugs (pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives) cover numerous drugs available through prescriptions as well as drugs within these groupings that may be manufactured illegally, such as methamphetamine, which is included under stimulants. Respondents are asked to report only uses of drugs that were not prescribed for them or drugs they took only for the experience or feeling they caused; therefore, over-the-counter drugs and legitimate uses of prescription drugs are not included. NSDUH reports combine the four prescription-type drug groups into a category referred to as "psychotherapeutics."

Because of concerns that methamphetamine use is underestimated in NSDUH due to its inclusion within the prescription-type drug questions, new questions regarding methamphetamine use were added to NSDUH in 2005. Preliminary analysis of these new data showed that underestimation is occurring, and additional questions may be needed to make it possible to estimate correctly the actual prevalence rate for methamphetamine use. Additional questions were included in the 2006 NSDUH. A discussion of these analyses, including preliminary data from the new 2006 questions, is provided in Section B.4.6 in Appendix B. Estimates of methamphetamine use in this chapter and in the tables in Appendix G are based on the same "core" NSDUH questions that were used in the 2004 survey and are therefore comparable with estimates from previous years.

Estimates of "illicit drug use" reported from NSDUH reflect the use of any of the nine drug categories listed above. Use of alcohol and tobacco products, while illegal for youths, is not included in these estimates, but is discussed in Chapters 3 and 4.

In 2005, an estimated 19.7 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview. This estimate represents 8.1 percent of the population aged 12 years old or older.
The overall rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older in 2005 (8.1 percent) was similar to the rate in 2004 (7.9 percent), 2003 (8.2 percent), and 2002 (8.3 percent).
Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug (14.6 million past month users). In 2005, it was used by 74.2 percent of current illicit drug users. Among current illicit drug users, 54.5 percent used only marijuana, 19.6 percent used marijuana and another illicit drug, and the remaining 25.8 percent used only an illicit drug other than marijuana in the past month (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1 Types of Drugs Used by Past Month Illicit Drug Users Aged 12 or Older: 2005

Figure 2.1 D

Among persons aged 12 or older, the overall rate of past month marijuana use was about the same in 2005 (6.0 percent) as it was in 2004 (6.1 percent), 2003 (6.2 percent), and 2002 (6.2 percent) (Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2 Past Month Use of Selected Illicit Drugs among Persons Aged 12 or Older: 2002-2005

Figure 2.2 D

⁺ Difference between estimate and the 2005 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.

In 2005, there were 2.4 million persons who were current cocaine users, which is more than in 2004 when the number was 2.0 million. However, the change in the rate of current use of cocaine between 2005 and 2004 (1.0 and 0.8 percent, respectively) was not statistically significant.
Similarly, the number of current crack users increased from 467,000 in 2004 to 682,000 in 2005. However, the change in the rate of current use of crack between 2004 and 2005 (0.2 and 0.3 percent, respectively) was not statistically significant.
Hallucinogens were used in the past month by 1.1 million persons (0.4 percent) in 2005, including 502,000 (0.2 percent) who had used Ecstasy. These estimates are similar to the corresponding estimates for 2004.
There was no significant change in the number of current heroin users in 2005 (136,000), nor in the rate of heroin use (0.1 percent), compared with estimates from 2004.
There were 9.0 million people aged 12 or older (3.7 percent) who were current users of illicit drugs other than marijuana in 2005. Most (6.4 million, 2.6 percent) used psychotherapeutic drugs nonmedically. Of these, 4.7 million used pain relievers, 1.8 million used tranquilizers, 1.1 million used stimulants (including 512,000 using methamphetamine), and 272,000 used sedatives. Each of these estimates is similar to the corresponding estimate for 2004.
The rate of current use of sedatives declined from 0.2 percent in 2002 to 0.1 percent in 2005, but there were no significant changes in current nonmedical use of other categories of psychotherapeutics during that period.
The rates for past month and past year methamphetamine use did not change between 2004 and 2005, but the lifetime rate declined from 4.9 to 4.3 percent. From 2002 to 2005, decreases were seen in lifetime (5.3 to 4.3 percent) and past year (0.7 to 0.5 percent) use, but not past month use (0.3 percent in 2002 vs. 0.2 percent in 2005). Although the number of past month users has remained steady since 2002, the number of methamphetamine users who were dependent on or abused some illicit drug did rise significantly during this period, from 164,000 in 2002 to 257,000 in 2005 (Figure 2.3).

Figure 2.3 Past Month Methamphetamine Use and Illicit Drug or Stimulant Dependence or Abuse in the Past Year among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Year: 2002-2005

Figure 2.3 D

⁺ Difference between estimate and the 2005 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.

Age

Rates of drug use are associated with age. Among youths aged 12 to 17, the rates of current illicit drug use increased with age: 3.8 percent at ages 12 or 13, 8.9 percent at ages 14 or 15, and 17.0 percent at ages 16 or 17 (Figure 2.4). The highest rate was among persons aged 18 to 20 (22.3 percent). The rate was 18.7 percent among those aged 21 to 25 and declined with increasing age among older adults.

Figure 2.4 Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Age: 2005

Figure 2.4 D

Youths Aged 12 to 17

Among youths, different age groups engaged in the use of different types of illicit drugs in the past month. Among 12 or 13 year olds, 1.7 percent used prescription-type drugs nonmedically, 1.5 percent used inhalants, and 0.9 percent used marijuana. Among 14 or 15 year olds, marijuana was the dominant drug used (5.9 percent), followed by prescription-type drugs used nonmedically (2.8 percent) and inhalants (1.2 percent). Marijuana also was the most commonly used drug among 16 or 17 year olds (13.6 percent), followed by prescription-type drugs used nonmedically (5.4 percent), hallucinogens (1.7 percent), cocaine (1.2 percent), and inhalants (1.0 percent).
In 2005, 9.9 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 were current illicit drug users: 6.8 percent used marijuana, 3.3 percent used prescription-type drugs nonmedically, 1.2 percent used inhalants, 0.8 percent used hallucinogens, and 0.6 percent used cocaine (Figure 2.5).

Figure 2.5 Past Month Use of Selected Illicit Drugs among Youths Aged 12 to 17: 2002-2005

Figure 2.5 D

⁺ Difference between estimate and the 2005 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.

The rate of current illicit drug use among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2005 was significantly lower than in 2002 (Figure 2.6). The rates were 11.6 percent in 2002, 11.2 percent in 2003, 10.6 percent in 2004, and 9.9 percent in 2005.

Figure 2.6 Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Age: 2002-2005

Figure 2.6 D

⁺ Difference between estimate and the 2005 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.

The rate of current marijuana use among youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 7.6 percent in 2004 to 6.8 percent in 2005. There were also significant declines in past year use (14.5 to 13.3 percent) and lifetime use (19.0 to 17.4 percent). The rate of current marijuana use has declined significantly from 8.2 in 2002 to 6.8 percent in 2005. Significant declines were also evident between 2002 and 2005 for past year use (from 15.8 to 13.3 percent) and lifetime use (from 20.6 to 17.4 percent).

Young Adults Aged 18 to 25

Rates of current use of illicit drugs were higher for young adults aged 18 to 25 (20.1 percent) than for youths aged 12 to 17 and adults aged 26 or older, with 16.6 percent using marijuana, 6.3 percent using prescription-type drugs nonmedically, 2.6 percent using cocaine, and 1.5 percent using hallucinogens (Figure 2.7).

Figure 2.7 Past Month Use of Selected Illicit Drugs among Young Adults Aged 18 to 25: 2002-2005

Figure 2.7 D

⁺ Difference between estimate and the 2005 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.

There were no significant changes in past month use of any drugs among young adults between 2004 and 2005, except for cocaine use, which increased from 2.1 to 2.6 percent.
Past year use of Ecstasy among young adults declined from 5.8 percent in 2002 to 3.7 percent in 2003 and to 3.1 percent in both 2004 and 2005.
Past month nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs among young adults increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.3 percent in 2005. This was primarily due to an increase in pain reliever use, which was 4.1 percent in 2002 and 4.7 percent in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Adults Aged 26 or Older

Among adults aged 26 or older, 5.8 percent reported current illicit drug use in 2005. In this age group, 4.1 percent used marijuana, and 1.9 percent used prescription-type drugs. Moreover, fewer than 1 percent used cocaine (0.8 percent), hallucinogens (0.2 percent), and inhalants (0.1 percent). Rates of lifetime, past year, and past month illicit drug use among adults aged 26 or older were unchanged between 2004 and 2005.
Among adults aged 50 to 59, the rate of current illicit drug use increased between 2002 and 2005 (Figure 2.8). For those aged 50 to 54, the rate increased from 3.4 to 5.2 percent, but this increase was not statistically significant. Among those aged 55 to 59, the rate increased significantly from 1.9 to 3.4 percent. This may reflect the aging into these age groups of the baby boom cohort, which has a relatively higher rate of lifetime illicit drug use than older cohorts have.

Figure 2.8 Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Adults Aged 50 to 59: 2002-2005

Figure 2.8 D

⁺ Difference between estimate and the 2005 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.

Gender

As in prior years, males were more likely in 2005 to report current illicit drug use than females (10.2 vs. 6.1 percent, respectively). Males were about twice as likely to use marijuana as females (8.2 vs. 4.0 percent). However, the rates of nonmedical use of prescription-type psychotherapeutics were similar for both males (2.8 percent) and females (2.5 percent).
Among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate of current illicit drug use was similar for boys (10.1 percent) and girls (9.7 percent). While boys aged 12 to 17 had a higher rate of marijuana use than girls (7.5 vs. 6.2 percent), the rate for nonmedical use of prescription-type psychotherapeutics was similar for boys and girls (3.1 and 3.6 percent, respectively).
Past month marijuana use declined from 2002 to 2005 for both male youths (9.1 to 7.5 percent) and female youths (7.2 to 6.2 percent) (Figure 2.9).

Figure 2.9 Past Month Marijuana Use among Youths Aged 12 to 17, by Gender: 2002-2005

Figure 2.9 D

⁺ Difference between estimate and the 2005 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.

Pregnant Women

Among pregnant women aged 15 to 44 years, 3.9 percent reported using illicit drugs in the past month based on combined 2004 and 2005 NSDUH data. This rate was significantly lower than the rate among women aged 15 to 44 who were not pregnant (9.9 percent). The 2002-2003 combined rate of current illicit drug use among pregnant women (4.3 percent) was not significantly different from the 2004-2005 combined rate.

Race/Ethnicity

Current illicit drug use was associated with race/ethnicity in 2005. The rate was lowest among Asians (3.1 percent). Rates were 12.8 percent for American Indians or Alaska Natives, 12.2 percent for persons reporting two or more races, 9.7 percent for blacks, 8.7 percent for Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, 8.1 percent for whites, and 7.6 percent for Hispanics.
Among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2005, the rate of current illicit drug use was highest among American Indians or Alaska Natives, about twice the overall rate among youths (19.2 vs. 9.9 percent, respectively). The rates for other groups were 11.0 percent among blacks, 10.1 percent among whites, 9.7 percent among those reporting two or more races, 9.4 percent among Hispanics, and 3.3 percent among Asians.
There were no statistically significant changes between 2004 and 2005 in the rate of current illicit drug use for any racial/ethnic subgroup among persons aged 12 or older. For youths aged 12 to 17, there was a decline among whites from 11.1 to 10.1 percent.

Education

Illicit drug use in 2005 was associated with educational status. Among adults aged 18 or older, the rate of current illicit drug use was lower among college graduates (5.0 percent) compared with those who did not graduate from high school (9.8 percent), high school graduates (8.6 percent), and those with some college (8.9 percent). However, adults who had graduated from college were more likely to have tried illicit drugs in their lifetime when compared with adults who had not completed high school (51.7 vs. 37.7 percent).

College Students

In the college-aged population (persons aged 18 to 22 years old), the rate of current illicit drug use was similar among full-time college students (21.2 percent) and among other persons aged 18 to 22 years, which includes part-time college students, students in other grades, and nonstudents (21.8 percent). Current illicit drug use among college students and other 18 to 22 year olds did not change between 2004 and 2005.
There was a significant increase in methamphetamine use among full-time college students aged 18 to 22 from 0.2 percent in 2004 to 0.5 percent in 2005. The rate was unchanged among other persons in that age group (1.0 percent in 2004 vs. 0.8 percent in 2005).

Employment

Current employment status was associated with illicit drug use in 2005. Among unemployed adults aged 18 or older, 17.1 percent were current illicit drug users, which was higher than the 8.2 percent of those employed full time and 10.4 percent of those employed part time. These rates were all similar to the corresponding rates in 2004.
Although the rate of past month illicit drug use was higher among unemployed persons compared with those from other employment groups, most drug users were employed. Of the 17.2 million current illicit drug users aged 18 or older in 2005, 12.9 million (74.8 percent) were employed either full or part time.

Geographic Area

Among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of current illicit drug use in 2005 was 9.0 percent in the West, 8.9 percent in the Northeast, 7.5 percent in the South, and 7.5 percent in the Midwest.
The rate of current illicit drug use in metropolitan areas was higher than the rate in nonmetropolitan areas in 2005. The rates were 8.4 percent in large metropolitan counties, 8.4 percent in small metropolitan counties, and 6.9 percent in nonmetropolitan counties as a group. Within nonmetropolitan areas, counties that were urbanized had a rate of 7.8 percent, less urbanized counties had a rate of 6.5 percent, while completely rural counties had a rate of 5.1 percent.
The rate of current illicit drug use in completely rural counties had declined between 2002 and 2003, from 6.7 to 3.1 percent, but then increased to 5.1 percent in 2005. The rate in 2005 was not significantly different from the rate in 2004 (4.6 percent).
Among youths aged 12 to 17, there was evidence of regional differences in trends of marijuana use between 2002 and 2005. Current marijuana use rates declined in the Northeast, Midwest, and South between 2002 and 2005. In the West, the rates were steady between 2002 and 2004 (8.0 percent in 2002, 8.7 percent in 2003, and 9.3 percent in 2004) and then declined to 6.8 percent in 2005 (Figure 2.10).

Figure 2.10 Past Month Marijuana Use among Youths Aged 12 to 17, by Geographic Region: 2002-2005

Figure 2.10 D

⁺ Difference between estimate and the 2005 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.

Criminal Justice Populations

In 2005, among the 1.6 million adults aged 18 or older on parole or other supervised release from prison during the past year, 26.3 percent were current illicit drug users, higher than the 7.7 percent among adults not on parole or supervised release.
Among the 4.7 million adults on probation at some time in the past year, 29.2 percent reported current illicit drug use in 2005. This is higher than the rate of 7.4 percent among adults not on probation in 2005.

Frequency of Use

In 2005, among past year marijuana users aged 12 or older, 13.3 percent used marijuana on 300 or more days within the past 12 months. This translates into 3.4 million persons using marijuana on a daily or almost daily basis over a 12-month period, similar to the estimate in 2004.
Among past month marijuana users aged 12 or older, 34.8 percent (5.1 million) used the drug on 20 or more days in the past month. The percentage of past month marijuana users aged 12 to 17 who used on 20 or more days in the past month declined from 28.1 percent (536,000) in 2004 to 23.1 percent (400,000) in 2005.

Association with Cigarette and Alcohol Use

In 2005, the rate of current illicit drug use was approximately 8 times higher among youths aged 12 to 17 who smoked cigarettes in the past month (46.7 percent) than it was among youths who did not smoke cigarettes in the past month (5.5 percent).
Past month illicit drug use also was associated with the level of past month alcohol use. Among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2005 who were heavy drinkers (i.e., drank five or more drinks on the same occasion [i.e., at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other] on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days), 59.9 percent also were current illicit drug users, which was higher than among nondrinkers (5.0 percent).
Among youths aged 12 to 17 who were both smokers and heavy drinkers in the past month in 2005, 70.9 percent used illicit drugs in the past month, higher than the 3.5 percent among youths who did not drink or smoke in the past month.

Driving Under the Influence of Illicit Drugs

In 2005, there were 10.5 million persons aged 12 or older who reported driving under the influence of an illicit drug during the past year. This corresponds to 4.3 percent of the population aged 12 or older, similar to the rates in 2003 (4.6 percent) and 2004 (4.4 percent), but lower than the rate in 2002 (4.7 percent). In 2005, the rate was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (13.4 percent).

Source of Prescription Drugs

NSDUH includes questions for nonmedical users of prescription-type psychotherapeutic drugs regarding how they obtained the drugs they recently used nonmedically. In 2005, the most prevalent source from which recently used drugs were obtained among nonmedical users of prescription-type drugs was "from a friend or relative for free."
Among persons aged 12 or older who used pain relievers nonmedically in the past 12 months, 59.8 percent reported that the source of the drug the most recent time they used was from a friend or relative for free. Another 16.8 percent reported they got the drug from one doctor. Only 4.3 percent got the pain relievers from a drug dealer or other stranger, and only 0.8 percent reported buying the drug on the Internet.
Over half (57.6 percent) of past year nonmedical users of stimulants aged 12 or older reported getting the drug from a friend or relative for free. Also, 6.5 percent bought the drug from a drug dealer or other stranger, and 7.2 percent bought it on the Internet. However, compared with overall stimulant users, methamphetamine users were less likely to purchase this stimulant on the Internet (1.5 percent) and more likely to purchase it from a drug dealer or other stranger (17.1 percent). Nearly half (47.7 percent) of past year methamphetamine users reported obtaining the drug from a friend or relative for free.

2005 National Survey on Drug Use & Health: National Results

3. Alcohol Use

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) includes questions about the recency and frequency of consumption of alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine, whiskey, brandy, and mixed drinks. An extensive list of examples of the kinds of beverages covered is given to respondents prior to the question administration. A "drink" is defined as a can or bottle of beer, a glass of wine or a wine cooler, a shot of liquor, or a mixed drink with liquor in it. Times when the respondent only had a sip or two from a drink are not considered to be consumption. For this report, estimates for the prevalence of alcohol use are reported primarily at three levels defined for both males and females and for all ages as follows:

Current (past month) use - At least one drink in the past 30 days (includes binge and heavy use).

Binge use - Five or more drinks on the same occasion (i.e., at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other) on at least 1 day in the past 30 days (includes heavy use).

Heavy use - Five or more drinks on the same occasion on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days.

Slightly more than half of Americans aged 12 or older reported being current drinkers of alcohol in the 2005 survey (51.8 percent). This translates to an estimated 126 million people, which is higher than the 2004 estimate of 121 million people (50.3 percent).
More than one fifth (22.7 percent) of persons aged 12 or older participated in binge drinking at least once in the 30 days prior to the survey in 2005. This translates to about 55 million people, comparable with the estimates reported since 2002.
In 2005, heavy drinking was reported by 6.6 percent of the population aged 12 or older, or 16 million people. This percentage is similar to the rates of heavy drinking in 2002 (6.7 percent), 2003 (6.8 percent), and 2004 (6.9 percent).

Age

In 2005, rates of current alcohol use were 4.2 percent among persons aged 12 or 13, 15.1 percent of persons aged 14 or 15, 30.1 percent of 16 or 17 year olds, 51.1 percent of those aged 18 to 20, and 67.4 percent of 21 to 25 year olds (Figure 3.1). Among older age groups, the prevalence of alcohol use decreased with increasing age, from 63.7 percent among 26 to 29 year olds to 47.5 percent among 60 to 64 year olds and 40.0 percent among people aged 65 or older.

Figure 3.1 Current, Binge, and Heavy Alcohol Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Age: 2005

Figure 3.1 D

Rates of binge alcohol use in 2005 were 2.0 percent among 12 or 13 year olds, 8.0 percent among 14 or 15 year olds, 19.7 percent among 16 or 17 year olds, 36.1 percent among persons aged 18 to 20, and 45.7 percent among those aged 21 to 25. The rate peaked at ages 21 to 23 (49.9 percent at age 21, 46.6 percent at age 22, and 47.7 percent at age 23), then decreased beyond young adulthood from 32.9 percent of 26 to 34 year olds to 18.3 percent of persons aged 35 or older.
The rate of binge drinking was 41.9 percent for young adults aged 18 to 25. Heavy alcohol use was reported by 15.3 percent of persons aged 18 to 25. These rates are similar to the rates in 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Persons aged 65 or older had lower rates of binge drinking (8.3 percent) than adults in other age groups. The rate of heavy drinking among persons aged 65 or older was 1.7 percent.
The rate of current alcohol use among youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 17.6 percent in 2004 to 16.5 percent in 2005. Youth binge drinking also declined during that period, from 11.1 to 9.9 percent, but heavy drinking did not change significantly (2.7 percent in 2004 and 2.4 percent in 2005).

Underage Alcohol Use

In 2005, about 10.8 million persons aged 12 to 20 (28.2 percent of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Nearly 7.2 million (18.8 percent) were binge drinkers, and 2.3 million (6.0 percent) were heavy drinkers. These figures have remained essentially the same since the 2002 survey.
More males than females aged 12 to 20 reported current alcohol use (28.9 vs. 27.5 percent, respectively), binge drinking (21.3 vs. 16.1 percent), and heavy drinking (7.6 vs. 4.3 percent) in 2005 (Figure 3.2).

Figure 3.2 Current Alcohol Use among Persons Aged 12 to 20, by Gender: 2002-2005

Figure 3.2 D

⁺ Difference between estimate and the 2005 estimate is statistically significant at the .05 level.