Drug Facts

  • Almost 28,723 people in the U.S. died of drug-induced causes in calendar year 2003, almost eight times the number lost in 9/11 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Vital Statistics Report Vol. 54 No. 13, April 19, 2006. (www.justthinktwice.com)
  • Emergency room visits related to marijuana increased to 242,200 in 2005 compared with 45,000 in 1995.  SAMHSA's Drug Abuse Warning Network findings, April 2006 update
  • Poisoning—particularly from overdoses of over-the-counter, prescription and illicit drugs—is now the fastest-rising cause of accidental death, with a 5% increase last year alone. National Safety Council press release, June 7, 2007
  • In 2006, 30 percent of high school seniors reported driving after drinking heavily or using drugs, or riding in a car whose driver had been drinking heavily or using drugs, at least once in the prior two weeks the National Institute on Drug Abuse's latest Monitoring the Future survey.
  • On any given day:
    • nearly 1.2 million teenagers smoked cigarettes
    • 631,000 drank alcohol
    • 586,000 used marijuana
    • 50,000 sniffed inhalants
    • 27,000 used hallucinogens
    • 13,000 used cocaine
    • 3,800 used heroin. 
    • While progress is being made in reducing substance abuse by teenagers, many kids still engage in risky behavior. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2006
  • 61% of high school students say their high school has drug problems Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University CASA
  • 31% of middle school students say their school has drug problems CASA
  • In 2007, an Internet search of "beat a drug test" generated 2.25 million hits in 0.04 seconds, up from 158K in 2002. CSAP Division of Workplace Programs Director, Robert Stephenson's testimony before Congress.
  • There are 26,000 blogs and 79 YouTube videos about beating drug tests.  2006 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s [SAMHSA’s] National Survey on Drug Use and Health
  • Four in five high school teens have witnessed the sale or possession of illegal drugs on high school grounds or seen someone who was drunk or high on campus CASA
  • Among teens who are receiving treatment for drug abuse or dependence, more than 60% report marijuana as their primary drug of abuse Office of National Drug Control Policy, April 25, 2007
  • Levels of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, have reached the highest-ever levels since scientific analysis of the drug began in the late 1970s Office of National Drug Control Director John Walters, April 25, 2007
  • 74.9% of current illicit drug users aged 18 or older are employed. The 2006 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s [SAMHSA’s] National Survey on Drug Use and Health
  • SAMHSA has identified over 400 products marketed to beat a urine, saliva, hair or blood drug test. These products were openly advertised in the print media, available in head shops, through dietary supplement retailers and through the Internet…. You can even buy a prosthetic device containing a reservoir of real drug-free human urine that looks like real human male anatomy, even color-matched, for workplace and criminal justice urine collection situations that require directly observed urine specimens to be provided. Synthetic urine can be used in place of real human urine. 2007 CSAP Division of Workplace Programs Director, Robert Stephenson's testimony before Congress.
  • Students who consider themselves popular were more likely to use drugs, drink or smoke than students who do not CASA
  • 13 percent of seniors said they drove after using marijuana, while 10 percent said they drove after having five or more drinks." National Institute on Drug Abuse's latest Monitoring the Future survey