The
NSDUH Report:
Illicit
Drug Use Among Lifetime NonDrinkers and Lifetime Alcohol Users
Highlights:
- Data
from SAMHSA's 2002 and 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
were pooled to examine the patterns of illicit drug use among adults
aged 21 or older who have used alcohol in their lifetime compared
with the patterns of illicit drug use among adults who have never
used alcohol in their lifetime.
- An
estimated 88.2% of persons aged 21 or older (175.6 million) had used
alcohol in their lifetime and 11.8% (23.5 million) had not used alcohol
in their lifetime. Among those who had used alcohol, 52.7% had used
one or more illicit drugs at some time in their life while only 8%
of the nondrinkers had used an illicit drug.
- Nonmedical
use of pain relievers was the illicit drug used most often by lifetime
nondrinkers; whereas marijuana was the illicit drug used most frequently
by adults who had ever used alcohol in their lifetime.
- An
estimated 88,000 adults aged 21 or older were dependent on or had
abused illicit drugs in the past year but had never drunk alcohol.
Reports
on alcohol
Reports
on alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs
OAS
publications and services
This Short
Report, The
NSDUH Report:
Illicit
Drug Use Among Lifetime NonDrinkers and Lifetime Alcohol Users,
is based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug
Use and Health conducted by the Office of Applied
Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA). SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and
consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse and for selected mental health measures in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, age 12 and older.
SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use & Health also provides estimates
for drug use and for selected mental health measures by State.
|