Illicit Drug Use Among Youths Who Use Cigarettes and Alcohol
Prevalence of Cigarette and Alcohol Use Among Youths
In the 2000 NHSDA, approximately 13 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 reported past month use of cigarettes, and more than 4 percent reported smoking daily during the past month. These percentages translate to approximately 3 million past month smokers, including almost 1 million daily smokers among youths. Approximately 16 percent of youths had used alcohol within the past month, including 10 percent reporting binge use (had five or more drinks on the same occasion on at least 1 day in the past 30 days) and 3 percent reporting heavy alcohol use (had five or more drinks on the same occasion on each of 5 or more days in the past 30 days). These percentages translate to almost 4 million past month alcohol users, including almost 2.5 million binge alcohol users, and 0.6 million heavy alcohol users among youths.
Illicit Drug Use Among Youth Smokers and Drinkers
Approximately 52 percent of youths who had smoked cigarettes daily within the past month were also past month users of illicit drugs. Past month illicit drug use was also reported by 39 percent of youths who had smoked but who were not daily smokers and by 5 percent of youths who had not smoked within the past month. Youths who smoked daily were more likely than older smokers to be past month users of illicit drugs. More than half of 12 to 17 year olds who were daily smokers had used illicit drugs within the past month compared with approximately 1 in 3 daily smokers aged 18 to 25 and 1 in 10 daily smokers aged 26 or older. The rate of illicit drug use was similar between daily and less than daily smokers for persons aged 18 to 25 (31 and 28 percent, respectively) and those aged 26 or older (10 percent for both types of smokers).
Approximately 66 percent of youths who drank alcohol heavily within the past month were also past month users of illicit drugs. Past month illicit drug use was also reported by 41 percent of binge drinkers who were not heavy drinkers, 20 percent of alcohol users who were not binge drinkers, and 4 percent of youths who had not used alcohol. As was the case with smoking, youths who drank alcohol heavily were more likely than older heavy drinkers to have used illicit drugs within the past month. Approximately two out of three heavy drinkers aged 12 to 17 had used illicit drugs within the past month compared with fewer than half of heavy drinkers aged 18 to 25 and one out of five heavy drinkers aged 26 or older.
Youths who had used both cigarettes and alcohol within the past month were more than twice as likely to have used illicit drugs within the past month compared with youths who had used only cigarettes or only alcohol. Youths who used only cigarettes or only alcohol were more than 7 times as likely to be past month users of illicit drugs compared with youths who had used neither cigarettes nor alcohol.
Source: SAMHSA 1999 NHSDA.
"In the United States, approximately three-fourths of all deaths among persons aged 10--24 years result from only four causes: motor-vehicle crashes, other unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide. Results from the 1999 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey demonstrate that numerous high school students engage in behaviors that increase their likelihood of death from these four causes...[including alcohol and illicit drug use]" Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Centers for Disease Control, Risk Youth Behavior Surveillance.
