According to the
2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 23.9 million Americans age 12 or older were current illicit drug users. This means that they used an illicit drug during the month before the survey interview. This represents 9.2% of all Americans in this age group, a similar rate to those found by the survey from 2009 to 2011 but higher than the rates from 2002 to 2008.
The survey found that:
- 9.5% of youth aged 12 to 17 were current illicit drug users (rates varied from 9.3% to 11.6% since 2002) and
- 21.3% of young adults age 18 to 25 were current illicit drug users (an increase from 19.7% in 2008 which the survey attributes primarily to increased marijuana use).
The survey notes larger increases among adults age 50 to 64 as the baby boom generation, which has had higher rates of drug use than older cohorts, ages into these groups. From 2002 to 2012, rates increased from (1) 3.4% to 7.2% for those age 50 to 54, (2) 1.9% to 6.6% for those age 55 to 59, and (3) 1.1% to 3.6% for those age 60 to 64.
The survey, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), also includes data on alcohol and tobacco use, youth prevention measures, and treatment.
