New Findings on Substance Use and Dependence Following Initiation of Alcohol or Illicit Drug Use

A series of recent research reports has examined the characteristics associated with the development of dependence soon after the initiation of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and hallucinogen use. These studies suggest that each drug class has a different trajectory from first use to cessation of use, continuation of use without dependence, or dependence upon the drug.

The following are brief findings found in the report:

			Among persons who initiated alcohol use 13 to 24 months prior to the survey interview (“year-before-last initiates”), 3.2 percent were dependent on alcohol in the past 12 months (“past year”).
			Among year-before-last marijuana initiates, 5.8 percent were dependent on marijuana in the past year.
			More than one-tenth (13.4 percent) of year-before-last heroin initiates were dependent on heroin in the past year, and 9.2 percent of year-before-last crack initiates were dependent on any type of cocaine in the past year.

Download NSDUH Report:

Substance Use and Dependence Following Initiation of Alcohol or Illicit Drug Use  (274 KB)