Trends & Statistics National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA

Because of methodological changes in 2021, estimates from this year should not be compared with previous years. Please refer to the Methodological Summary and Definitions report for more information on the NSDUH survey. Among people aged 12 or older, the percentage with a past year SUD (i.e., alcohol use disorder, illicit drug use disorder, or both) remained stable between 2015 and 2019 (Figure 45 and 2019 DT 7.46). In 2019, 20.4 million people aged 12 or older (or 7.4 percent of this population) had an SUD in the past year, including 14.5 million who had an alcohol use disorder and 8.3 million who had an illicit drug use disorder (Figure 46). Among the 8.3 million people with a past year illicit drug use disorder, 4.8 million people had a marijuana use disorder, and 1.4 million people had a prescription pain reliever use disorder. NSDUH estimates allow researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public to better understand and improve the nation’s behavioral health.

Treatment for Depression among Adolescents

This number in 2019 who initiated marijuana use in the past year averaged to about 2,400 adults aged 26 or older each day (Table A.3A). Unlike the initiation patterns for cigarette and alcohol use, about 25 percent of past year initiates of marijuana use were aged 26 or older in 2019. Among adults aged 26 or older, the number of past year initiates of alcohol use in 2019 (205,000 people) was similar to the numbers in most years from 2002 through 2018 (Figure 27 and 2019 DT 7.44). This number in 2019 who initiated alcohol use in the past year averaged to approximately 560 adults aged 26 or older each day (Table A.3A). Consistent with the pattern of cigarette smoking initiation, relatively few people start to use alcohol after age 25. Among young adults aged 18 to 25 in 2019, 1.0 million people initiated cigarette smoking in the past 12 months (2019 DT 7.43), what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults which was higher than the numbers in 2002 to 2004, was similar to the numbers in 2005 to 2008, and was lower than the numbers in most years from 2009 through 2018.

How does the general public benefit by the rate of drug overdose deaths dropping?

This percentage in 2019 was higher than the percentages in 2008 to 2016, but it was similar to the percentages in 2017 and 2018. Among adults aged 18 or older with past year AMI, receipt of mental health services in the past year increased from 40.9 percent (or 16.2 million people) in 2008 to 44.8 percent (or 23.0 million people) in 2019 (Figure 75 and 2019 DT 10.9). This percentage in 2019 was higher than the percentages in 2008 to 2012, but it was similar to the percentages in most years from 2013 through 2018. The percentage of adults aged 18 or older who received prescription medication in the past year for a mental health issue increased from 10.5 percent (or 22.0 million people) in 2002 to 13.1 percent (or 32.6 million people) in 2019 (Figure 74 and 2019 DT 10.16). This percentage in 2019 was higher than the percentages in most years from 2002 through 2018. Also, the percentage of adolescents aged 12 to 17 who received mental health services in a juvenile justice setting in the past year decreased from 0.4 percent (or 109,000 people) in 2009 to 0.2 percent (or 49,000 people) in 2019 (Figure 73 and 2019 DT 11.1).

• In contrast, the marijuana use measures, which have been the same since 2002, have 18 years of trend data between 2002 and 2019 (2019 DT 7.2).
• These estimates in 2019 were higher than the estimates in 2016 and 2017, but they were similar to those in 2015 and 2018.
• This percentage in 2019 was higher than the percentage in each year from 2002 to 2017 but was similar to the percentage in 2018.

Annual National Report

• The 2019 NSDUH also collected information on the receipt of substance use treatment at a specialty facility.
• This was an extremely comprehensive study that looked at five different national data sets, reviewed over 7,000 publications and conducted interviews with leading experts, as well as individuals who had suffered from addiction.
• However, most methamphetamine used in the United States is produced and distributed illicitly rather than through the pharmaceutical industry.
• These estimates are not mutually exclusive because respondents could have used more than one type of substance (e.g., tobacco products and alcohol) in the past month.
• Among adolescents aged 12 to 17, the number of past year initiates of cocaine use decreased from 310,000 in 2002 to 59,000 in 2019 (Figure 29 and 2019 DT 7.41).

Thus, continued monitoring of trends in prescription pain reliever misuse is important for assessing progress in addressing the opioid crisis in the United States. Among adults aged 26 or older between 2015 and 2019, perceived great risk of harm from smoking marijuana weekly declined from 38.7 percent in 2015 to 30.8 percent in 2019 (Figure 36 and 2019 DT 7.37). Perceptions of great risk of harm among adults aged 26 or older declined slightly from 2015 to 2019 for daily binge drinking (from 70.4 to 69.3 percent), smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day (from 74.2 to 72.7 percent), and weekly cocaine use (from 88.8 to 86.9 percent). In addition, the perceived great risk of harm from weekly heroin use among this population declined slightly from 2017 (95.8 percent) to 2019 (95.2 percent). Although prescription pain reliever misuse was the second most common form of illicit drug use in 2019 (Figure 10), most past year users of prescription pain relievers did not misuse them in the past year (Figure 22).

Misuse of Psychotherapeutic Drugs

• These estimates in 2019 were lower than the estimates in 2015 and 2017, but they were similar to the estimates in 2016 and 2018.
• 48 Respondents who reported any use of prescription drugs in a given prescription psychotherapeutic category in the past 12 months (e.g., prescription pain relievers) but did not report misuse of any drugs in that category in the past 12 months were not asked the SUD questions for that category.
• Among adults aged 26 or older, the percentage who were past year methamphetamine users increased from 0.5 percent (or 1.1 million people) in 2016 to 0.8 percent (or 1.7 million people) in 2019 (Figure 15 and 2019 DT 7.14).
• 39 Past year initiates of crack cocaine use are counted as past year initiates of cocaine use only if they initiated any use of cocaine in the past year.

Respondents also were informed that MAT for opioid misuse was different from medications given to stop a drug overdose. NSDUH estimates allow researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public to better understand and improve the nation’s behavioral health. Among adults aged 26 or older, the number of past year initiates of prescription pain reliever misuse remained stable between 2015 and 2019 (Figure 32 and 2019 DT 7.44). Among this population in 2019, 958,000 people initiated prescription pain reliever misuse in the past year, or an average of about 2,600 new prescription pain reliever misusers aged 26 or older each day (Table A.3A). Adult respondents aged 18 or older were asked whether they received treatment or counseling for any problem with emotions, “nerves,” or mental health in the past year in any inpatient or outpatient setting or if they used prescription medication in the past year for a mental or emotional condition.

The 2019 NSDUH asked respondents to identify specific prescription pain relievers they used in the past year, then asked whether they misused those pain relievers in the past year. The specific pain relievers people misused in the past year were categorized into subtypes, such as hydrocodone products. For example, respondents who reported misusing the pain relievers Vicodin® or hydrocodone were classified as misusers of hydrocodone products. These percentages in 2019 were higher than the percentages in 2015, but they were similar to the percentages in 2016 to 2018. Among adults aged 26 or older in 2019, 90,000 people initiated cigarette smoking in the past 12 months (2019 DT 7.44), or an average of about 250 new cigarette smokers aged 26 or older each day (Table A.3A).