Child and Adolescent Drug Abuse Statistics

Child and Adolescent Drug Abuse Statistics
Did You Know Drug Abuse is Still a Major Problem???
An estimated 19.5 million Americans aged 12 or older were current users of an illicit drug in 2003. This estimate represents 8.2 percent of the population.
Over half (51%) of America’s teenagers have tried an illicit drug by the time they finish high school.
An estimated 71 million Americans reported being current users of a tobacco product in 2003, a prevalence rate of 30% for the population 12 years and older.
Marijuana is the most widely used illicit substance in this country. In 2003, 14.6 million people were current users of marijuana.
For the second year in a row inhalant use has increased in 8th graders with 17.3% reporting use at least once in their lifetime. These drugs are particularly dangerous because they can damage the nervous system even after a single use, and they can be fatal.
Vicodin is one of the drugs most commonly abused by high school seniors. Nearly one in ten 12th graders reported non-medical use of Vicodin in 2004; one in twenty 12th graders reported non-medical use of OxyContin.