| OCR Text |
Show Current smokers were more likely than non-smokers to be heavy drinkers and illicit drug users. Among current smokers, the rate of heavy alcohol use (five or more drinks on the same occasion on five or more days in the past month) was 14.0 percent, the rate of marijuana/hashish use was 13.6 percent, and the rate of current illicit drug use was 16.1 percent.26 Among nonsmokers, only 2.9 percent were heavy drinkers, 1.8 percent were marijuana/hashish users, and 2.5 percent were illicit drug users.27 An estimated 3.1 percent of the population were current users of smokeless tobacco in 1998. The rate has remained steady since 1991.28 An estimated 6.9 percent of the population were current users of cigars in 1998. This represents a statistically significant increase from 1997, when the rate was 5.9 percent.29 Illicit Drug Use An estimated 13.6 million Americans were current users of illicit drugs in 1998, meaning they used an illicit drug at least once during the 30 days prior to the interview. Although this number is slightly less than the 13.9 million estimate for 1997, the difference is not statistically significant. By comparison, the number of current illicit drug users was at its highest level in 1979 when the estimate was 25.0 million.30 9.9 percent of youths age 12-17 reported current use of illicit drugs in 1998. This estimate represents a statistically significant decrease from the estimate of 11.4 percent in 1997. The rate was highest in 1979 (16.3 percent), declined to 5.3 percent in 1992, then increased to 10.9 percent in 1995. The percent of youth reporting current use of illicit drugs has fluctuated since 1995 (9.0 percent in 1996 and 11.4 percent in 1997)31 An estimated 1.8 million (0.8 percent) Americans age 12 and older were current users of cocaine in 1998. The estimate was 1.5 million (0.7 percent) in 1997; but the difference is not statistically significant. Cocaine use reached a peak of 5.7 million or 3.0 percent of the population in 1985.32 An estimated 4.1 million people met diagnostic criteria for dependence on illicit drugs in 1997 and 1998, including 1.1 million youths age 12-17.33 Trends in New Use of Substances (Incidence) Because information on when people first used a substance is collected on a retrospective basis, information on first time use or incidence is always one year behind information on current use. An estimated 2.1 million persons first used marijuana in 1997. This translates to about 5,800 new marijuana users per day. The rate of first use of marijuana among youths age 12-17 declined significantly from 79 per thousand potential new users in 1996 to 64 per thousand potential new users in 1997. This rate had increased from 38 to 73 between 1991 and 1994; that is, use of marijuana by youths who had never previously used the substance doubled during that time period. The youth incidence rate was stable from 1994 to 1996.34 An estimated 81,000 persons used heroin for the first time in 1997. The rate of initiation for youths from 1994 to 1997 was at the highest level since the early 1970's.35 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid, p. 22 28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid., p. 1. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid., p. 3. 35 Ibid. 102 |
