Skip To Content
Click for DHHS Home Page
Click for the SAMHSA Home Page
 Click for the OAS Drug Abuse Statistics Home Page
Click for What's New
Click for Recent Reports and HighlightsClick for Information by Topic Click for OAS Data Systems and more Pubs Click for Data on Specific Drugs of Use Click for Short Reports and Facts Click for Frequently Asked Questions Click for Publications Click to send OAS Comments, Questions and Requests Click for OAS Home Page Click for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Home Page Click to Search Our Site


Trends in Nonmedical Use of Prescription Pain Relievers

The NSDUH Report - -  Trends in Nonmedical Use of Prescription Pain Relievers: 2002 to 2007

  • HTML format (508 compliant version - -also contains the data table that was used to construct each figure; this data table is not found in printed or PDF version)

Highlights:

  • Data from SAMHSA's 2002 to 2007 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health were combined in order to determine trends in nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers among the general population aged 12 and older. Prescription pain relievers include hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine.
  • The rate of past month nonmedical use of pain relievers did not differ significantly between 2002 and 2007 among the overall general population aged 12 and older but did differ by age group during this period.
  • Youth past month nonmedical use of pain relievers declined from 3.2% in 2002 to 2.7% in 2007 while young adult use increased from 4.1% to 4.6% during this period.
  • In 2007, 2.1% persons aged 12 and older (5.2 million) reported using prescription pain relievers nonmedically in the past month: 2.7% youth (670,000), 4.6% young adults (1.5 million), and 1.6% adults aged 26 or older (3 million) used a prescription pain reliever nonmedically in the past month.

    Prescription-type or Over-the-Counter (OTC) drug use

Other drugs

Other topics

Other OAS publications and services

This Short Report, The NSDUH Report - -  Trends in Nonmedical Use of Prescription Pain Relievers: 2002 to 2007, is based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).  The survey is 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.

This is the page footer.

This page has been accessed 9138 times since 2/9/09.

This page was last updated on February 9, 2009.



SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.

This is a line.

   Site Map | Contact Us | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Freedom of Information Act
 Disclaimer | Department of Health and Human Services | SAMHSA | White House | USA.gov

* PDF formatted files require that Adobe Acrobat Reader® program is installed on your computer. Click here to download this FREE software now from Adobe.