Drugs - General

By Jerry Price - Mar 13, 2006 -

  • Between 2003 and 2004, illicit drug use in the past 30 days significantly declined from 10 percent to 8 percent among 8th-graders. Twenty-three percent of 12th-graders and 18 percent of 10th-graders reported past 30-day illicit drug use in 2004, statistically unchanged from the previous year.
  • Twelve-year trends for 8th- and 10th-graders show that past-30-day illicit drug use increased from the early to mid-1990s, peaking in 1996 at 15 percent and 23 percent in the respective grades. Illicit drug use by 8th- and 10th graders then declined gradually from 1996 to 2003, and decreased further among 8th-graders in 2004.
  • Longer term trends for high school seniors show that past-30-day illicit drug use declined from 37 percent in 1980 to 14 percent in 1992. The rate then rose sharply, reaching 26 percent in 1997, and has remained around that level, with a slight decrease to 24 percent in 2003 and 23 percent in 2004.
  • Among 12th-graders, more males than females report illicit drug use (26 percent compared with 20 percent, respectively, in 2004). For younger students, gender differences are less dramatic but are in the same direction among 10th-graders. Between 2003 and 2004, past-30-day illicit drug use by males declined from 10 to 8 percent among 8th-graders and from 21 to 20 percent among 10th-graders; illicit drug use by females in these grades remained stable over this period.
  • White and Hispanic students generally have higher illicit drug use rates than do Black students. Among 12th-graders in 2004, for example, 26 percent of Whites and 20 percent of Hispanics reported past-30-day illicit drug use, compared with 17 percent of Blacks.

Behavior and Social Environment Indicators: Alcohol Use America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2005, (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics) [Accessed October 31, 2005]

Further Learning

Learn more about: Family, Addictions, Substance Abuse