January 16, 2004 |
In Brief |
|
The 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), formerly the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), asks persons aged 12 or older to report their illicit drug use during the month prior to the interview. Illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), inhalants, heroin, or prescription-type drugs used nonmedically. Respondents also were asked to report how easy or difficult it would be to obtain marijuana, LSD, cocaine, crack, or heroin if they wanted some1 and whether or not they had been approached in the past month by someone selling drugs. Responses were analyzed by gender, age, and the type of county in which the respondents lived at the time of the interview.2 This report focuses on respondents aged 12 to 17.
Youths in metropolitan areas were more likely to report that LSD or cocaine were easy to obtain than youths in non-metropolitan areas. Youths living in large metropolitan areas were more likely to report that heroin was easy to obtain than those living in small metropolitan or non-metropolitan areas. Perceptions of the ease of obtaining marijuana or crack were similar among youths living in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas.
Figure 1. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting that Obtaining Illicit Drugs is Easy, by Gender: 2002 |
Figure 2. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting that Obtaining Illicit Drugs is Easy, by Age: 2002 |
Table 1. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting Past Month Illicit Drug Use, by Perceived Ease of Obtaining That Drug: 2002 |
Table 2. Percentages of Youths Aged 12 to 17 Reporting Past Month Illicit Drug Use, by Whether or Not They Had Been Approached by Someone Selling Drugs in the Past Month: 2002 |
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Prior to 2002, this survey was called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). The 2002 data are based on information obtained from 68,126 persons aged 12 or older, including 23,645 youths aged 12 to 17. The survey collects data by administering questionnaires to a representative sample of the population through face-to-face interviews at their place of residence.
The NSDUH Report prepared by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS), SAMHSA, and by RTI in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Information and data for this issue are based on the following publication and statistics: Office of Applied Studies. (2003). Results from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National findings (DHHS Publication No. SMA 033836, NHSDA Series H22). Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Also available on-line: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov. Additional tables available upon request. Because of improvements and modifications to the 2002 NSDUH, 2002 estimates should not be compared with estimates from the 2001 or earlier versions of the survey to examine changes over time.
|
The NSDUH Report (formerly The NHSDA Report) is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA. Additional copies of this report or other reports from the Office of Applied Studies are available on-line: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov. Citation of the source is appreciated. |
This page was last updated on May 16, 2008. |
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.
* PDF formatted files require that Adobe Acrobat ReaderĀ® program is installed on your computer. Click here to download this FREE software now from Adobe. |