Chapter 4's Figure 2 consists of three stacked cluster bar charts depicting polydrug use by age group in admissions to publicly funded treatment programs using the 1997 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). Drugs are classed as other, opiates, marijuana, alcohol, and stimulants. The first chart shows that 44 percent of admissions presented using only one class of substance. The largest substance class in this group was alcohol only, which was present in more than 50 percent of admissions aged 50 to 89. The next chart shows admissions with two substances, and the third chart shows admissions with three drug classes. The likelihood of using only one substance increased with age to 74 years. For persons 75 or older, there was a greater likelihood of using two or more substances. For those aged 25 or older, the most frequent combinations were for alcohol with stimulants.

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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.