Baby Boomer Drug Use Increases
Date: September 26, 2006
National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2005
Drug abuse continues to be a problem in our society, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The annual survey is the primary source of information on the use of illicit drugs in the general population of people aged 12 years and older. Every year the survey interviews approximately 67,000 people.
The survey revealed that an estimated 19.7 million Americans aged 12 years or older were current (in the past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview. This estimate represents 8.1 percent of the population in the surveyed age group. Illicit drugs include marijuana, hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants and prescription-type psychotherapeutics used non-medically.
Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug (14.6 million past-month users). Among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of past-month marijuana use was about the same (6.0 percent) as in 2004 (6.1 percent), 2003 (6.2 percent), and 2002 (6.2 percent).
Although marijuana was the most commonly abused illicit drug, the survey estimates that 6.4 million (2.6 percent) of persons aged 12 or older used prescription-type drugs non-medically in the past month. Of these, 4.7 million used painkillers such as Vicodin®', codeine, Percocet®' and OxyContin®'. Among this group who used pain relievers non-medically in the past 12 months, 59.8 percent reported the source of the drug the most recent time was a friend or relative versus 16.8 percent who reported they received it from a doctor.
It is interesting to note that the rate of illicit drug use among youths aged 12-17 actually dropped from 11.6 percent (2002) to 9.9 percent in 2005, while among adults aged 50-59, the rate of illicit drug use increased between 2002 and 2005 from 1.9 to 3.4 percent. This may reflect the progression into these age groups of the baby boom cohort, which has a relatively higher rate of lifetime illicit drug use than older cohorts have.
In summary, 19.7 million Americans voluntarily admitted to illicit drug use. In addition, although illicit drug use dropped among 12-17 year olds, it rose among the baby boom age group. Finally, although marijuana is the number one drug used illicitly, there continues to be a high number of painkiller drugs used without valid prescriptions.