Trends in Initiation of Drug/Alcohol Use

Alcohol

In 1998, approximately 5.1 million persons initiated the use of alcohol. With reported data back to 1965, this puts the number of new users as high or higher than any estimate since the early 1970s. The largest contributors to this rise are youths aged 12 to 17, who now constitute about 67 percent of total new initiates. The late 1980s and early 1990s were a recent low for the number of new initiates. Estimates of new users of alcohol among youth at that time were about 1.7 to 1.8 million per year, and initiates among young adults aged 18 to 25 were 0.9 to 1.1 million. In 1998, the number of new users among youth grew dramatically to 3.4 million, while the initiates among young adults increased slightly to 1.2 million. The 3.4 million new users aged 12 to 17 represents about 15 percent of all youth in the nation.

Marijuana
Cocaine
Psychotherapeutics (nonmedical use of pharmaceutical drugs)
Other Substances

Source: SAMHSA 1999 NHSDA.

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"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.