The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Information Clearinghouse has prepared this fact sheet to summarize drug use trends in the United States. Populations covered in this fact sheet include the general household populations, students, active military personnel, and criminal offenders, as surveyed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Some individuals, such as homeless people, are difficult to reach using standard survey techniques, so little is known about their drug use. For information on survey methodologies, please refer to the Sources section on page 5. The data used to prepare figures are presented at the end of the report.
General Population
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of HHS have sponsored several national surveys to track drug use trends. One of the most widely known is the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), which interviews persons age 12 and older living in households about drug and alcohol use. In 1991, the survey was expanded to include civilians living on military installments, persons living in college dormitories, and persons living in homeless shelters. Since October 1, 1992, the survey has been sponsored by SAMHSA. Earlier surveys were sponsored by NIDA. In 1999, the survey methodology changed, therefore making data from previous years incomparable. According to NHSDA, in 1979, 14.1% of the population age 12 and older reported using an illicit drug in the past 30 days. Between 1999 and 2001, past month illicit drug use for persons age 12 and older increased from 6.3% to 7.1%.
