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Show Alcohol, Tobacco, and Substance Abuse (National Household Survey on Drug Abuse) The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, an annual survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), has been the primary source of estimates of the prevalence and incidence of illicit drug, alcohol, and tobacco use in the population since 1971. The survey is based on a nationally representative sample of the civilian, non-institutionalized population of the United States age 12 years and older.18 Selected findings are presented below: Alcohol Use In 1998,113 million Americans age 12 and older reported current use of alcohol, meaning they used alcohol at least once during the 30 days prior to the interview. About 33 million of this group engaged in binge drinking, meaning they drank 5 or more drinks on one occasion during that 30 day period. 12 million were heavy drinkers, meaning they had 5 or more drinks on one occasion 5 or more days during the past 30 days. The percentages of the population falling into these different groups have not changed since 1988.19 Although consumption of alcoholic beverages is illegal for those under 21 years of age in the United States, 10.5 million current drinkers were age 12-20 in 1998. Of this group, 5.1 million engaged in binge drinking, including 2.3 million who would also be classified as heavy drinkers. There have been no statistically significant changes in the rates of underage drinking since 199420 The level of alcohol use was strongly associated with illicit drug use in 1998, as in prior years. Of the 12.4 million heavy drinkers, 29.5 percent (3.7 million people) were current illicit drug users. Among the 20.5 million binge (but not heavy) drinkers, 17.8 percent (3.7 million) were illicit drug users. Other drinkers (i.e., past month but not binge) had a rate of 5.5 percent (4.4 million) for illicit drug use, while only 1.7 percent (1.8 million) of nondrinkers were illicit drug users.21 Tobacco Use An estimated 60 million Americans age 12 and older reported current cigarette use, meaning smoking cigarettes at least once during the 30 days prior to the interview. This estimate represents a rate of 27.7 percent, which is a statistically significant decline from the 1997 rate of 29.6 percent22 The current smoking rate among young adults age 18-25 continues to follow an upward path from 34.6 percent in 1994 to 35.3 percent in 1995, 38.3 percent in 1996, 40.6 percent in 1997, and 41.6 percent in 1998. The 1998 rate is significantly higher than the 1994,1995 and 1996 rates.23 An estimated 18.2 percent of youths age 12-17, or 4.1 million, were current cigarette smokers in 1998. There was no significant change in this rate between 1997 (19.9 percent) and 1998; the rate for this group has remained relatively stable since 1988. The rate was 18.9 percent in 1994, 20.2 percent in 1995, 18.3 percent in 1996, and 19.9 percent in 1997. There were no statistically significant changes. Youths age 12-17 who currently smoked cigarettes were 11.4 times more likely to use illicit drugs and 16 times more likely to drink heavily than nonsmoking youths.24 The rate of current cigar use among those 12 and older increased from 5.9 percent in 1997 to 6.9 percent in 1998, a statistically significant increase. An estimated 5.6 percent of youths age 12-17, or 1.3 million, were current cigar smokers in 1998. This compares to 5.0 percent in 1997, not a statistically significant difference25 18 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, p. 1. [Online] Available <http://www.samhsa.gov/OAS/Nhsda/NHSDAsumrpt.pdf>. 19 Ibid, p. 2. 20 Ibid. 21 Ibid., p. 19. 22 Ibid., p. 2. 23 Ibid., p. 22. 24 Ibid, p. 2. 25 Ibid. 101 |