(2008) For 2008, an estimated 117,325,000 Americans aged 12 or over (47% of the US population aged 12 and over) report having used an illicit drug at least once in their lifetimes.

(2008) More than 102 million Americans have tried marijuana; 15.2 million Americans are estimated to be "past-month" users. Yet there are only an estimated 1,855,000 "past-month" users of cocaine and 213,000 "past-month" users of heroin.

(2008) "The world consumes some 3,700 tons of illicit opium per year (1/3 raw and 2/3 processed into heroin) and seizes 1,000 tons. Illicit opiate trade flows have never been previously known: this report breaks new ground by estimating them by country (and regions)."

(2008) "Current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older varied by race/ethnicity in 2008, with the lowest rate among Asians (3.6 percent) (Figure 2.9). Rates were 14.7 percent for persons reporting two or more races, 10.1 percent for blacks, 9.5 percent for American Indians or Alaska Natives, 8.2 percent for whites, 7.3 percent of Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, and 6.2 percent for Hispanics."

(2008) Below are the results of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2008, showing estimates of the US population aged 12 and over who admit to using substances. It is important to note that the Survey finds slight use of 'hard drugs' like cocaine, heroin and crack.

(2008) "Illicit drug use in 2008 varied by educational status. Among adults aged 18 or older, the rate of current illicit drug use was lower for college graduates (5.7 percent) than for those who did not graduate from high school (8.1 percent), high school graduates (8.6 percent), and those with some college (9.4 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 (51.8 vs. 37.7 percent). The rate of current illicit drug use declined from 9.3 percent in 2007 to 8.1 percent in 2008 among adults who had not completed high school."

(2008) An estimated 1.1 million Americans aged 12 or older used crack cocaine in 2008. Of those, 726 thousand were White, 256 thousand were Black, and 84 thousand were Hispanic.

(2008) "For years, CASA has been asking teens: 'Which is easiest for someone your age to buy: cigarettes, beer, marijuana, or prescription drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin or Ritalin, without a prescription?' Over the years, teens have indicated that cigarettes and marijuana are easiest to buy, followed by beer and then prescription drugs. For the first time this year, more teens told us that prescription drugs are easier to buy than beer. (Figure 3.P) and (Figure 3.Q)"

In 2008, CASA reported that 25% said cigarettes, 23% said marijuana, 19% said prescription drugs, 15% said beer, and 7% said it was the same for all.

(2008) "According to the 2008 Monitoring the Future survey—a national survey of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders—cocaine use among students did not change significantly, though it remained at unacceptably high levels: 3.0 percent of 8th-graders, 4.5 percent of 10th-graders, and 7.2 percent of 12th-graders have tried cocaine; 0.8 percent of 8th-graders, 1.2 percent of 10th-graders, and 1.9 percent of 12th-graders were current (past-month) cocaine users. Crack cocaine use, which has been steadily declining since 1990, showed a significant decrease among 12th-graders in the past year.

(2007) "According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 35.9 million Americans aged 12 and older reported having used cocaine, and 8.6 million reported having used crack. An estimated 2.1 million Americans were current (past-month) users of cocaine; 610,000 were current users of crack. There were an estimated 906,000 new users of cocaine in 2007—most were 18 or older when they first used cocaine. Among young adults aged 18 to 25, the past-year use rate was 6.4 percent, showing no significant difference from the previous year."

(2007) According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:
"The average age at first nonmedical use of any psychotherapeutics among recent initiates aged 12 to 49 was 21.8 years. More specifically, it was 21.2 years for pain relievers, 21.9 years for stimulants, 24.5 years for tranquilizers, and 24.2 years for sedatives.

"In 2007, there were 106,000 persons aged 12 or older who had used heroin for the first time within the past 12 months. The average age at first use among recent initiates aged 12 to 49 was 21.8 years in 2007.

"Most (66.5 percent) of the 0.9 million recent cocaine initiates were 18 or older when they first used. The average age at first use among recent initiates aged 12 to 49 was 20.2 years, which was similar to the average age in 2006 (20.3 years).

"In 2007, the average age at first marijuana use among recent initiates aged 12 to 49 was 17.6 years, which was similar to the average in 2006 (17.4 years) (Figure 5.4). Among recent initiates aged 12 or older who initiated use prior to the age of 21, the mean age at first use was 16.2 years in 2007, which was not significantly different from the estimate (16.1 years) in 2006."

"In 2007, among recent initiates aged 12 to 49, the average age of first cigarette use was 16.9 years, similar to the average in 2006 (17.1 years)."

"In 2007, the average age at first alcohol use among recent initiates aged 12 to 49 was 16.8 years, similar to the corresponding 2006 estimate (16.6 years). The mean age at first use among recent initiates aged 12 or older who initiated use prior to the age of 21 was 15.8 years, which was the same as the 2006 estimate."

(2007) "In 2007, the rate of current illicit drug use was almost 9 times higher among youths aged 12 to 17 who smoked cigarettes in the past month (47.3 percent) than it was among youths who did not smoke cigarettes in the past month (5.4 percent).

"Past month illicit drug use also was associated with the level of past month alcohol use. Among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2007 who were heavy drinkers (i.e., consumed five or more drinks on the same occasion on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days), 60.1 percent also were current illicit drug users, which was higher than the rate among nondrinkers (5.0 percent)."

(2007) "According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the number of current (past-month) heroin users in the United States decreased from 338,000 in 2006 to 153,000 in 2007. There were 106,000 first-time users of heroin aged 12 or older in 2007; the average age at first use of heroin was 21.8 years."

(2006) "Tobacco, a particularly addictive substance, is a case in point. About 28 per cent of the world's adult population is estimated to use tobacco, which exceeds, by far, the number of people using illicit drugs (4 per cent for cannabis and 1 per cent for ATS, cocaine and opiates combined)."

(2004) "Cannabis remains by far the most commonly used drug in the world. An estimated 162 million people used cannabis in 2004, equivalent to some 4 per cent of the global population age 15-64. In relative terms, cannabis use is most prevalent in Oceania, followed by North America and Africa. While Asia has the lowest prevalence expressed as part of the population, in absolute terms it is the region that is home to some 52 million cannabis users, more than a third of the estimated total. The next largest markets, in absolute terms, are Africa and North America."

(2004) "Of these 5 per cent of the population (age 15-64), who use illicit drugs at least once a year (annual prevalence), only about half of them (2.7 per cent of the population age 15-64) use drugs regularly, that is, at least once per month. The number of what are commonly understood to be drug addicts or problem drug users is some 25 million persons worldwide, equivalent to 0.6 per cent of the population age 15-64. This estimate does not seem to have changed much in recent years at the global level as increases in some countries were offset by declines in others."

(2004) "The total number of drug users in the world is now estimated at some 200 million people, equivalent to about 5 per cent of the global population age 15-64. Cannabis remains by far the most widely used drug (some 162 million people), followed by amphetamine-type stimulants (some 35 million people), which include amphetamines (used by 25 million people) and ecstasy (almost 10 million people). The number of opiate abusers is estimated at some 16 million people, of which 11 million are heroin abusers. Some 13 million people are cocaine users."

(2004) "In 2004, 6.0 million persons were current users of psychotherapeutic drugs taken nonmedically (2.5 percent). These include 4.4 million who used pain relievers, 1.6 million who used tranquilizers, 1.2 million who used stimulants, and 0.3 million who used sedatives. These estimates are all similar to the corresponding estimates for 2003.

"There were significant increases in the lifetime prevalence of use from 2003 to 2004 in several categories of pain relievers among those aged 18 to 25. Specific pain relievers with statistically significant increases in lifetime use were Vicodin®, Lortab®, or Lorcet® (from 15.0 to 16.5 percent); Percocet®, Percodan®, or Tylox® (from 7.8 to 8.7 percent); hydrocodone products (from 16.3 to 17.4 percent); OxyContin® (from 3.6 to 4.3 percent); and oxycodone products (from 8.9 to 10.1 percent)."

(2004) "In 2004, an estimated 2.8 million persons used psychotherapeutics nonmedically for the first time within the past year. The numbers of new users of psychotherapeutics in 2004 were 2.4 million for pain relievers, 1.2 million for tranquilizers, 793,000 for stimulants, and 240,000 for sedatives. These estimates are similar to the corresponding estimates for 2002 and 2003.

"The average age of first nonmedical use of psychotherapeutics among recent initiates was 24.7 years. For specific drug classes, the average ages were 23.3 years for pain relievers, 25.2 years for tranquilizers, 24.1 years for stimulants, and 29.3 years for sedatives.

"In 2004, the number of new nonmedical users of OxyContin® was 615,000, with an average age at first use of 24.5 years. Comparable data on past year OxyContin® initiation are not available for prior years, but calendar year estimates of OxyContin® initiation show a steady increase in the number of initiates from 1995, the year this drug was first available, through 2003 (Figure 5.5)."

(2003) "In 2003, there were an estimated 25 million veterans comprising roughly 11.5 percent of the 217 million non-institutionalized civilians aged 17 or older in the United States."

"An estimated 3.5 percent of veterans used marijuana in the past month compared with 3.0 percent of their nonveteran counterparts in 2003"

"Heavy use of alcohol was more prevalent among veterans than comparable nonveterans, with an estimated 7.5 percent of veterans drinking heavily in the past month compared with 6.5 percent of their nonveteran counterparts."

"Using criteria from the DSM-IV, an estimated 2.6 percent of veterans were dependent on alcohol in the past year (Figure 2). A much smaller proportion of veterans (0.9 percent) was dependent on illicit drugs in the past year."

"An estimated 0.8 percent of veterans received specialty treatment4 for a substance use disorder (alcohol or illicit drugs) in the past year compared with 0.5 percent of their nonveteran counterparts (Figure 3). An estimated 2.8 percent of veterans were dependent on illicit drugs or alcohol but did not receive treatment in the past year.5 A similar proportion of comparable
nonveterans went untreated."

(2003) "Most teens who use alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana do so before they are 14. Among teens who have tried alcohol, tobacco or marijuana, the average age of first use is a little more than 12 for alcohol, 12-1/2 for cigarettes, and 13 years 11 months for marijuana."

(2002 + 2003) "Lifetime alcohol users aged 21 or older had a significantly higher rate of past year illicit drug use (13.7 percent) compared with lifetime nondrinkers (2.7 percent). In addition, lifetime alcohol users had significantly higher rates of past year use across all illicit drug categories, with the exception of inhalants (Table 1). Nonmedical use of pain relievers was the illicit drug used most often by lifetime nondrinkers, whereas lifetime alcohol users reported using marijuana most frequently."

(2002 + 2003) "In 2002 and 2003, an estimated 88.2 percent of persons aged 21 or older (175.6 million) were lifetime alcohol users, whereas an estimated 11.8 percent (23.5 million) were lifetime nondrinkers. Over half of lifetime alcohol users (52.7 percent) had used one or more illicit drugs at some time in their life, compared to 8.0 percent of lifetime nondrinkers. Among persons who had used an illicit drug in their lifetime, the average age at first illicit drug use was 19 years for lifetime alcohol users, versus 23 years for lifetime nondrinkers."

(2002) "Lifetime nonmedical pain reliever prevalence among youths aged 12 to 17 increased from 2001 (9.6 percent) to 2002 (11.2 percent), continuing an increasing trend from 1989 (1.2 percent). Among young adults aged 18 to 25, the rate increased from 19.4 percent in 2001 to 22.1 percent in 2002. The young adult rate had been 6.8 percent in 1992.

"Lifetime nonmedical use of stimulants increased steadily from 1990 to 2002 for youths aged 12 to 17 (0.7 to 4.3 percent). For young adults aged 18 to 25, rates declined from 1981 to 1994 (from 10.9 to 5.9 percent), then increased to 10.8 percent in 2002. Rates increased between 2001 and 2002 for both youths (3.8 to 4.3 percent) and young adults (10.2 to 10.8 percent)."

(1992) "Differences in earnings among those employed were generally greater than differences in employment by alcohol and drug use patterns. Men who had never used alcohol had the lowest average annual earnings ($29.0 thousand), while men who had used in moderate amounts ($37.1 thousand) had the highest earnings. Those with alcohol problems at some point in their lifetime ($33.0 thousand) fell in between. Interestingly, those with current (last 12 months) alcohol problems had on average about the same annual earnings as non drinkers, but current moderate alcohol users had the highest annual earnings of any group ($38.0 thousand)."

(2003) According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), "Unsurprisingly, the main problem drugs at the global level continue to be the opiates (notably heroin) followed by cocaine. For most of Europe and Asia, opiates continued to be the main problem drug, accounting for 62% of all treatment demand in 2003. In South-America, drug related treatment demand continued to be mainly linked to the abuse of cocaine (59% of all treatment demand). In Africa, the bulk of all treatment demand – as in the past – is linked to cannabis (64%).analysis of these responses suggests that overall drug consumption continues to spread at the global level."

(2009) "In the world over 15 million people use illicit opiates (opium, heroin and morphine) annually. The value of the global opiate market is estimated at US$ 65 billion."

(2002) A survey of health-related behavior among military personnel by Research Triangle Institute, released in 2003, found that "The significant increase from 1998 to 2002 in heavy alcohol use suggests that this is an area that may need greater emphasis by the Military. Indeed, the rate of heavy alcohol use had not changed significantly since 1988 and indicates that more than one out of six military personnel in 2002 was likely to be a heavy drinker. The finding of no significant change in illicit drug use between 1998 and 2002 and the relatively low rates of use for both surveys suggest that the Military's effort to curtail illicit drug use may have reached its lower limit. The trend line resembles an asymptotic curve that shows steep declines initially with successively smaller declines until it eventually flattens out. The 1992 through 2002 data suggest that the flattening point may have been reached and that it may not be realistic to expect drug use among military personnel to go much lower."

(2002) A survey of health-related behavior among military personnel by Research Triangle Institute, released in 2003, found that "The prevalence of any reported illicit drug use during the past 30 days declined sharply from 27.6% in 1980 to 3.4% in 2002. The decreases were statistically significant between each of the surveys from 1980 to 1992 and have remained relative stable around 3% for the decade from 1992 to 2002. Rates of illicit drug use during the past 12 months showed a parallel pattern to the 30-day use except at a higher level, as would be expected. Use declined from 36.7% in 1980 to 6.9% in 2002. Rates have been relatively constant since 1992 at around 6% to 7%."

(2002) A survey of health-related behavior among military personnel by Research Triangle Institute, released in 2003, found that "The increase in the rates of cigarette smoking between 1998 and 2002 is of concern and unexpected given the strong emphasis from health planners and practitioners in the Military on smoking reduction and the wave of national attention directed toward the problems of smoking. The rate of cigarette smoking in 2002 remained the highest of the three substances, over one and three-fourths as high as heavy alcohol use and about 10 times as high as illicit drug use."

(2002) A survey of health-related behavior among military personnel by Research Triangle Institute, released in 2003, found that "As shown in Figure 3.1 and Table 3.1, any illicit drug use and cigarette use both declined significantly between 1980 and 2002, although the rate of decline varied for each of the substances and between each of the eight surveys. In contrast, the rates of heavy alcohol use did not show a significant decline between 1980 (20.8%) and 2002 (18.1%), although the 1998 survey showed a significant decline from the 1980 rate of use (i.e., from 20.8% to 15.4%). When we examine the trend in heavy drinking over the eight surveys, we see that heavy alcohol use increased from 1980 to 1982, was relatively stable between 1982 and 1985, decreased significantly between 1985 and 1988, remained relatively stable with some up and down fluctuations between 1988 and 1998, and then showed a significant increase from 1998 to 2002. Overall, the heavy drinking rate for 2002 was very similar to the rate when the survey series began in 1980."

"There were little or differences in the probability of employment by lifetime alcohol and drug use patterns. Men who had an alcohol disorder at some point in their life were equally likely as men who had never drunk alcohol to be currently employed (.91) and only slightly less likely than moderate alcohol users (.91 vs. .92, p=.09). Similarly, men who had a drug disorder at some point in their life were somewhat less likely (.90 vs. 92, p=.07) to be currently employed, but there was no statistically difference between moderate drug users and non-users. Differences among men by their current (last 12 months) alcohol and, especially, drug use patterns were greater. Current moderate alcohol drinkers were actually more likely than those who had not drunk alcohol in the last year to be employed (.93 vs. 91), while those with a current alcohol problem were less likely to be employed than either moderate or nondrinkers (.89). In contrast to moderate alcohol users, current moderate drug users were less likely to be employed than nonusers (.88 vs. .92). Men with a current drug problem were substantially less likely to be employed (.82) than either moderate or non drug users."

"Although residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods, neighborhoods with high concentrations of minorities, and neighborhoods with high population densities reported much higher levels of visible drug sales, they reported only slightly higher levels of drug use, along with somewhat higher levels of drug dependency. This finding indicates that conflating drug sales with use, so that poor and minority areas are assumed to be the focus of the problem of drug use, is plainly wrong. The finding is based on the data collected across 41 sites, including city and suburban (but not rural) areas in all regions."

"Although serious drug use is slightly more prevalent in poor minority neighborhoods than elsewhere, the major problem for disadvantaged neighborhoods is drug distribution. These communities are victims not only of their own drug abuse but also of a criminal drug market that serves the entire society. The market establishes itself in disadvantaged communities in part because of the low social capital in these neighborhoods. The drug economy further erodes that social capital."

(2003-2004) "The paucity of the data on which the annual prevalence estimates are based does not allow for the identification of clear global trends in the short term. As an imperfect complement, UNODC relies on the perception of the trends in their countries by national experts. A global analysis of these perceptions suggest that the strongest increase over the last decade was for cannabis use and ATS, and at lower levels for opiates and cocaine. After some stabilization in 2003, ATS drug use was perceived as having increased again, reflecting the prevailing view in East and South-East Asia that methamphetamine use has started rising again.

"Opiate abuse trends flattened in recent years. However, by 2004, opiate abuse perceptions again went upwards, as many countries around Afghanistan experienced a renewed supply-push following Afghanistan's good opium harvests of 2003 and 2004. In other parts of the world, including North America and Western Europe, abuse levels remained constant for opiates. After years of increases, cocaine use is perceived as declining slightly, notably in the Americas. In Europe, by contrast, cocaine use continues to expand."

(1997, 2001, & 2005 - The Netherlands) Prevalence of drug use in the Dutch population 15-64 years of age:

(2005 - The Netherlands) "In 2005, the prevalence of last year cannabis use was about 2.5 times higher among men than women (7.8% as against 3.1%). This male-female ratio was marginally smaller in previous years (almost 2). Apparently the gender gap is not narrowing."

(1999) Below are results from a survey of drug use in The Netherlands published in 1999. Note the difference in drug use prevalence. For more information check out the Netherlands section of Drug War Facts.

Adolescents - Monitoring the Future Report

"A study of the effects of decriminalization by several states during the late 1970s found no evidence of any impact on the use of marijuana among young people, nor on attitudes and beliefs concerning its use. (85) However, it should be noted that decriminalization falls well short of the full legalization posited in the questions here. Moreover, the situation today is very different than it was in the late 1970s, with much more peer disapproval and more rigorous enforcement of drug laws. More recent studies suggest that there may be an impact of decriminalization, such that 'youths living in decriminalized states are significantly more likely to report currently using marijuana.'"

(2004) "There is some controversy over the number of narcotic drug users in Russia. Dr. Vadim Pokrovsky of the Federal AIDS Center said that estimates of the number of active drug users in Russia in February 2004 ranged from 1 to 4 million, and he believed the high end of that range reflected the reality. On February 20, 2004, Alexander Mikhailov, the deputy director of the State Drug Control Committee (SDCC), a federal body, was cited in Pravda as saying that Russia had over 4 million drug users, and that the "gloomy prediction" of his office was that Russia could have over 35 million drug users by 2014. In early January 2004, the executive secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which includes twelve former Soviet states, predicted that in 2010 the twelve countries would have 25 million drug users of whom 10 million would be living with HIV/AIDS, the vast majority in Russia."

The US has higher rates of illicit drug use by young people than European nations, as noted by this Monitoring The Future survey released in 2001: "The MTF study found that in 1999 41% of tenth grade students in the United States had used marijuana or cannabis at least once in their lifetimes. All the participating European countries had a considerably lower rate of lifetime use, averaging 17%. This proportion varied among European countries from 1% in Romania to a high of 35% in France, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic. The US also had one of the lowest proportions of students seeing marijuana use as carrying a risk of harm to the user, and one of the lowest proportions saying that they personally disapprove of marijuana use (pp. 345 and 348).... The US also had the highest rates of use of most of the other illicit drugs studied, as well as marijuana, with the important exception of heroin. These included amphetamines, hallucinogens, cocaine, crack, and ecstasy."

"Overall, it is important to note that supply reduction -- that is, reducing the availability of drugs -- does not appear to have played as major a role as many had assumed in three of the most important downturns in illicit drug use that have occurred to date, namely, those for marijuana, cocaine, and ecstasy (see Figures 8-4, 8-5, and 8-6). In the case of cocaine, perceived availability actually rose during much of the period of the downturn in use. (These data are corroborated by data from the Drug Enforcement Administration on trends in the price and purity of cocaine on the streets.) In the case of marijuana, perceived availability has remained very high for 12th graders over the past 31 years, while use dropped substantially from 1979 through 1992. Perceived availability for ecstasy did increase in association with its increasing use in the 1990s, but the decline phase for use appears to have been driven much more by changing beliefs about the dangers of ecstasy than by any sharp downturn in availability. Similarly, amphetamine use declined appreciably from 1981 to 1992, with only a modest corresponding change in perceived availability. Finally, until 1995, heroin use had not risen among 12th graders even though availability had increased substantially."