SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Prevalence and Incidence
Results of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration's 2000 National Household
Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) show that the percentage
of adolescents ages 12-17 who reported using illicit
drugs in the month prior to the survey continued to
decline. Since 1997, the rate of adolescent use of
any illicit drugs has declined 15 percent, from 11.4
percent in 1997 to 9.7 percent in 2000.
There was no statistically significant change in
the reported use of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens,
or inhalants from 1999 to 2000. However, the proportion
of adolescents reporting using heroin in the past
month decreased from 0.2 percent in 1999 to 0.1 percent
in 2000. Sixteen percent of adolescents age 12-17
are current drinkers. Of these, 10.4 percent reported
binge drinking, and 2.6 percent reported heavy alcohol
use.
Nearly 1.4 million Americans under the age of 18
were estimated to be first-time users of marijuana
in 1999, a 15 percent decline from 1998. However,
the youth rates of marijuana initiation have increased
considerably since 1990. Also, about a third of those
who reported smoking, sniffing, or snorting heroin
for the first time in 1999 were persons under the
age of 18, representing approximately 34,000 youth.
Perception of Risk and Access to Drugs
In 2000, 38 percent of adolescents perceived smoking
marijuana to be risky, which is a slight increase
from 1999, though not a statistically significant
change. The percent of adolescents who perceived cocaine
use to be risky also slightly increased from 55.3
percent in 1999 to 55.4 percent in 2000 (though this
was also not a statistically significant change).
Fifty-four percent of the adolescents surveyed in
2000 reported that marijuana was easy to obtain, and
approximately 16 percent of respondents reported being
approached by someone selling drugs in the month prior
to the survey.
 [d]
|
