Highlights of 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
This report presents the first information from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The survey is the primary source of information on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older. The survey interviews approximately 67,500 persons each year. Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons in this report described using terms such as "increased," "decreased," or "more than" are statistically significant at the .05 level.
Illicit Drug Use
* In 2006, an estimated 20.4 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview. This estimate represents 8.3 percent of the population aged 12 years old or older. Illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics used nonmedically.
* The rate of current illicit drug use among persons aged 12 or older in 2006 (8.3 percent) was similar to the rate in 2005 (8.1 percent).
* Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug (14.8 million past month users). Among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of past month marijuana use was the same in 2006 (6.0 percent) as in 2005.
* In 2006, there were 2.4 million current cocaine users aged 12 or older, which was the same as in 2005 but greater than in 2002 when the number was 2.0 million. However, the rate of current cocaine use remained stable between 2002 and 2006.
* Hallucinogens were used in the past month by 1.0 million persons (0.4 percent) aged 12 or older in 2006, including 528,000 (0.2 percent) who had used Ecstasy. These estimates are similar to the corresponding estimates for 2005.
* There were 7.0 million (2.8 percent) persons aged 12 or older who used prescription-type psychotherapeutic drugs nonmedically in the past month. Of these, 5.2 million used pain relievers, an increase from 4.7 million in 2005.
* In 2006, there were an estimated 731,000 current users of methamphetamine aged 12 or older (0.3 percent of the population). These estimates do not differ significantly from estimates for 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 and are all based on new survey items added to NSDUH in 2006 to improve the reporting of methamphetamine use. These improved estimates should not be compared with estimates of methamphetamine use shown in prior NSDUH reports.
* Among youths aged 12 to 17, current illicit drug use rates remained stable from 2005 to 2006. However, youth rates declined significantly between 2002 and 2006 for illicit drugs in general (from 11.6 to 9.8 percent) and for several specific drugs, including marijuana, hallucinogens, LSD, Ecstasy, prescription-type drugs used nonmedically, pain relievers, tranquilizers, and the use of illicit drugs other than marijuana.
* The rate of current marijuana use among youths aged 12 to 17 declined from 8.2 percent in 2002 to 6.7 percent in 2006. Among male youths, the rate declined from 9.1 to 6.8 percent, but among female youths the rates in 2002 (7.2 percent) and 2006 (6.4 percent) were not significantly different.
* There were no significant changes in past month use of any drugs among young adults aged 18 to 25 between 2005 and 2006. The rate of past year use increased for Ecstasy (from 3.1 to 3.8 percent) and decreased for inhalants (2.1 to 1.8 percent).
* From 2002 to 2006, the rate of current use of marijuana among young adults aged 18 to 25 declined from 17.3 to 16.3 percent. Past month nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs among young adults increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.4 percent in 2006. This was primarily due to an increase in the rate of pain reliever use, which was 4.1 percent in 2002 and 4.9 percent in 2006. However, nonmedical use of tranquilizers also increased over the 5-year period (from 1.6 to 2.0 percent).
* Among persons aged 12 or older who used pain relievers nonmedically in the past 12 months, 55.7 percent reported that the source of the drug the most recent time they used was from a friend or relative for free. Another 19.1 percent reported they got the drug from just one doctor. Only 3.9 percent got the pain relievers from a drug dealer or other stranger, and only 0.1 percent reported buying the drug on the Internet. Among those who reported getting the pain reliever from a friend or relative for free, 80.7 percent reported in a follow-up question that the friend or relative had obtained the drugs from just one doctor.
* Among unemployed adults aged 18 or older in 2006, 18.5 percent were current illicit drug users, which was higher than the 8.8 percent of those employed full time and 9.4 percent of those employed part time. However, most drug users were employed. Of the 17.9 million current illicit drug users aged 18 or older in 2006, 13.4 million (74.9 percent) were employed either full or part time.
* In 2006, there were 10.2 million persons aged 12 or older who reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs during the past year. This corresponds to 4.2 percent of the population aged 12 or older, similar to the rate in 2005 (4.3 percent), but lower than the rate in 2002 (4.7 percent). In 2006, the rate was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (13.0 percent).
Alcohol Use
* Slightly more than half of Americans aged 12 or older reported being current drinkers of alcohol in the 2006 survey (50.9 percent). This translates to an estimated 125 million people, which is similar to the 2005 estimate of 126 million people (51.8 percent).
* More than one fifth (23.0 percent) of persons aged 12 or older participated in binge drinking (having five or more drinks on the same occasion on at least 1 day in the 30 days prior to the survey) in 2006. This translates to about 57 million people, similar to the estimate in 2005.
* In 2006, heavy drinking was reported by 6.9 percent of the population aged 12 or older, or 17 million people. This rate is similar to the rate of heavy drinking in 2005 (6.6 percent). Heavy drinking is defined as binge drinking on at least 5 days in the past 30 days.
* In 2006, among young adults aged 18 to 25, the rate of binge drinking was 42.2 percent, and the rate of heavy drinking was 15.6 percent. These rates are similar to the rates in 2005.
* The rate of current alcohol use among youths aged 12 to 17 was 16.6 percent in 2006. Youth binge and heavy drinking rates were 10.3 and 2.4 percent, respectively. These rates are essentially the same as the 2005 rates.
* Underage (persons aged 12 to 20) past month and binge drinking rates have remained essentially unchanged since 2002. In 2006, about 10.8 million persons aged 12 to 20 (28.3 percent of this age group) reported drinking alcohol in the past month. Approximately 7.2 million (19.0 percent) were binge drinkers, and 2.4 million (6.2 percent) were heavy drinkers.
* Among persons aged 12 to 20, past month alcohol use rates were 18.6 percent among blacks, 19.7 percent among Asians, 25.3 percent among Hispanics, 27.5 percent among those reporting two or more races, 31.3 percent among American Indians or Alaska Natives, and 32.3 percent among whites. The 2006 rate for American Indians or Alaska Natives is higher than the 2005 rate of 21.7 percent.
* Among pregnant women aged 15 to 44, binge drinking in the first trimester dropped from 10.6 percent in 2003-2004 combined data to 4.6 percent in 2005-2006 combined data.
• In 2006, an estimated 12.4 percent of persons aged 12 or older drove under the influence of alcohol at least once in the past year. This percentage has decreased since 2002, when it was 14.2 percent. The 2006 estimate corresponds to 30.5 million persons.
