Highlights of 2001-2002 Reports on Substance Abuse and Mental Health

In 2000, 9 percent of the substance abuse treatment facilities responding to SAMHSA's National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services reported that they dispensed methadone/LAAM.   Methadone facilities offered HIV testing, hepatitis testing, and testing for sexually transmitted diseases more than twice as frequently as non-methadone facilities.  See The DASIS Report: Facilities Providing Methadone/LAAM Treatment to Clients with Opiate Addiction.

In 1999, the majority (64 percent) of substance abuse treatment admissions reported no health insurance.  The types of insurance reported by the substance abuse treatment admissions were Medicaid (14 percent), private insurance (13 percent),  and other forms of insurance (9 percent).  See The DASIS Report: Health Insurance Status of Admissions for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1999.

In 2001, over 3 million persons aged 12 to 17 had smoked cigarettes during the past month.  Although it is illegal in the United States to sell tobacco to underaged youths, in 2001 almost 2 million youths aged 12 to 17 who smoked cigarettes in the past month purchased them personally during the same time period.  See The NHSDA Report:  How Youths Get Cigarettes.

In 2001, over 8 million persons aged 12 or older reported driving under the influence of illegal drugs during the past year, that is, "drugged driving."  See The NHSDA Report:  Drugged Driving.

Almost 2 million veterans, or 6 percent of the population of veterans in the United States, reported using illicit drugs in the past year.  See The NHSDA Report:  Illicit Drug Use Among Veterans (2000 and 2001).

In 2000, the typical daily number of clients enrolled in facilities owned by the Veteran Administration (VA) was about three times higher than the number enrolled in non VA facilities.  See The DASIS Report: Characteristics of Substance Abuse Facilities Owned by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 2000.

Among youths aged 12 to 17, those aged 14 or 15 reported higher rates than those younger or older for the following violent behaviors:  serious fighting at school or work, group-against-group fights, and attacking others with the intent of seriously hurting them. See The NHSDA Report:  Youth Violence and Substance Use,  2001 Update.

Puerto Rican or Mexican Hispanic females were more likely to use illicit drugs than were their Cuban, Central or South American peers.  See The NHSDA Report:  Illicit Drug Use Among Hispanic Females.

Rates of DAWN emergency department visits are presented for cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine in 21 metropolitan areas and the continental U.S.  Only Chicago and Baltimore rank among the top 5 metropolitan areas in ED visit rates for both cocaine and heroin.  By contrast, Atlanta has one of the highest rates for cocaine but one of the lowest for heroin. The DAWN Report: Major Drugs of Abuse in ED Visits, 2001 Update (PDF format).

Between 1994 and 2001, DAWN emergency department  mentions of GHB, Ketamine, and MDMA rose dramatically  (over 2000% each).  However, only MDMA mentions increased from 1999 to 2001 and none of the club drugs showed significant changes from 2000 to 2001.  See The DAWN Report:  Club Drugs, 2001 Update (PDF format).

State level data are presented for 17 different measures relating to substance use.  Among persons aged 12 or older,  the highest estimated rates of past month use of illicit drugs were in the West and North East; the highest rates of past month use of tobacco were in the South;  the highest rates of past year use of cocaine were in the West; South Dakota had the highest rate of alcohol dependence or abuse, and Arizona had the highest rate of illicit drug dependence or abuse.  See State Estimates of Substance Use From the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse:  (PDF format). Click here for more state level data.

Dually diagnosed female admissions were more likely to have alcohol as their primary substance of abuse and less likely to have opiates, or stimulants than non-dually diagnosed female admissions.  See The DASIS Report: Dually Diagnosed Female Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions: 1999.

Nationally, 61 percent of substance abuse treatment facilities focused on substance abuse treatment services, 25 percent on a mix of mental health and substance abuse treatment services, and 9 percent on mental health services, and 5 percent on general health care or other services.  See The DASIS Report: Primary Focus of Facilities Treating Substance Abuse.

Of the substance abuse treatment facilities providing programs or services for women, 63 percent reported providing programs for women only, 56 percent reported services addressing domestic violence, 34 percent provided programs for pregnant or postpartum women, and 16 percent offered on-site child care services.  See The DASIS Report: Facilities Offering Special Programs or Services for Women.

In 2001, approximately 15 million Americans aged 18 or older were estimated to have a serious mental illness (SMI) during the past year.  See The NHSDA Report:  Serious Mental Illness Among Adults.

In 2001, almost 17 million Americans aged 12 or older abused or were dependent on either alcohol or illicit drugs.  See The NHSDA Report:  Substance Abuse or Dependence.

Approximately 94 percent of Federal prisons, 56 percent of State prisons, and 33 percent of jails provided on-site substance abuse treatment to inmates.  See The DASIS Report:  Substance Abuse Services and Staffing in Adult Correctional Facilities.

Workers in the transportation, communication, and other public utilities industries were more likely than workers in other industries to be aware of substance use testing at their workplaces.  About 53 percent of workers were aware of substance use employee assistance programs at their workplaces.  See The NHSDA Report:   Awareness of Workplace Substance Use Policies and Programs.

Alcohol, opiates, and marijuana were the most common primary substances of abuse among Hispanic admissions.  Hispanic admissions had a larger percentage of admissions for opiate abuse (32 percent) than non-Hispanic admissions (15 percent).  See The DASIS Report:  Hispanics in Substance Abuse Treatment.

Asian youths were less likely to have used alcohol during the past year than Hispanic, white, or American Indian/Alaska Native youths.   Filipino youths were more likely to have used alcohol during the past year than Chinese or Asian Indian youths.  See The NHSDA Report:   Low Rates of Alcohol Use among Asian Youths.

Occupations and industries with higher concentrations of males, such as construction and mining, had higher rates of substance use than other occupations and industries, such as professional services.  See The NHSDA Report:   Substance Use, Dependence or Abuse among Full-Time Workers.

In 2001, an estimated 15.9 million Americans age 12 years or older used an illicit drug in the month immediately prior to the survey interview.  About 10.1 million persons age 12 to 20 years  reported current alcohol use, i.e., were underage drinkers.  In the 12 months preceding the interview in 2001, an estimated 3.1 million persons age 12 or older received some kind of treatment for a problem related to the use of alcohol or illicit drugs; of these, 1.6 million received treatment at a self-help group.  In 2001, there were an estimated 14.8 million adults age 18 or older with a serious mental illness; an estimated 3 million had both a serious mental illness and substance abuse or dependence problems during the year.  See  2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse on September 5, 2002.

Youths who received grades of D or below last semester were more likely than those with higher grades to have used cigarettes, alcohol, or illicit drugs during the past month.  See The NHSDA Report:   Academic Performance and Youth Substance Use.

Rates of past month use of marijuana/hashish, alcohol, or cigarettes were lower among youths who believed their parents would strongly disapprove of their substance use compared with those who felt their parents somewhat disapproved or those who thought their parents would neither approve nor disapprove.  See The NHSDA Report:   Parental Disapproval of Youths' Substance Use.

Approximately 60 percent of recent marijuana initiates had used both alcohol and cigarettes prior to their first use of marijuana.  About 9 percent had never used alcohol or cigarettes at the time of first marijuana use, and the remaining recent initiates had used either alcohol only (16.6 percent) or cigarettes only (14.8 percent).  See Initiation of Marijuana Use:  Trends, Patterns and Implications.

Adults with alcohol dependence or abuse in the United States lived an average of 3.2 miles from a substance abuse treatment facility in the year 2000.  See  The DASIS Report:  Distance to Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities among Those with Alcohol Dependence or Abuse.

Adult dependence on illicit drugs was more likely among individuals who first used marijuana at age 14 or younger than among those who first used marijuana after age 14.  See The NHSDA Report:  Marijuana Use and Drug Dependence.

From 2000 to 2001, significant increases in drug episodes were found in 5 of the 21 metropolitan areas oversampled in DAWN:  Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, and San Francisco.  See Emergency Department Trends from the Drug Abuse Warning Network, Final Estimates 1994-2001.

For national estimates by age, gender, race/ethnicity, geographic area, education, and employment for persons needing but not receiving substance abuse treatment and for estimates for each State,  see National and State Estimates of the Drug Abuse Treatment Gap:  2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

In 2000, an estimated 14.5 million Americans aged 12 or older were classified with dependence on or abuse of either alcohol or illicit drugs.   See Substance Dependence, Abuse and Treatment.

Asian and Pacific Islander substance abuse treatment admissions increased by 37 percent between 1994 and 1999.  Nearly 19 percent of  Asian and Pacific Islander substance abuse treatment admissions were for stimulant abuse compared with 5 percent in the total treatment population.  See The DASIS Report: Asians and Pacific Islanders in Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions, 1999.

Among marijuana treatment admissions for youth, 59 percent were white, 23 percent were Black, 12 percent were Hispanic, 2 percent were Asian/Pacific Islanders,  and 2 percent were American Indian and Alaska Natives.  See The DASIS Report: Youth Marijuana Admissions by Race and Ethnicity.

Rates of past year use of marijuana,  hallucinogens, cocaine, or  any psychotherapeutic drug used nonmedically were higher in metropolitan than in non-metropolitan areas.  See The NHSDA Report:  Illicit Drug Use in Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Areas.

National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS).  This survey provides the mechanism for quantifying the dynamic character and  composition of the U.S. substance abuse treatment delivery system.

In 1999, 87 percent of substance abuse treatment admissions for prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drug abuse were among Whites.  See The DASIS Report:  Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drug Abuse Admissions.

In 2000, over 3 million youths aged 12 to 17 used marijuana at least once during the past year.  See The NHSDA Report:  Marijuana Use Among Youths.

In 2000,  approximately 3 million youths were at risk for suicide during the past year.   Youths who reported past year alcohol or illicit drug use were more likely than youths who did not use these substances to be at risk for suicide.  See The NHSDA Report:  Substance Use and the Risk of Suicide Among Youths.

The number of Asian and Pacific Islander adolescent substance abuse treatment admissions increased by 52 percent between 1994 and 1999.  See The DASIS Report: Asian and Pacific Islander Adolescents in Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions, 1999.

In 1999, there were 179,000 treatment admissions for primary injection drug abuse and 34,000 admissions for secondary injection drug abuse.  Opiates accounted for 83 percent of substance abuse treatment admissions for injection drug abuse, followed by methamphetamine/ amphetamines (11 percent) and cocaine (5 percent).  See The DASIS Report: Treatment Admissions for Injection Drug Abuse. 

The proportion of admissions for heroin inhalation increased while the proportion for heroin injection decreased at all urbanization levels except non metropolitan areas without cities.  See The DASIS Report: Heroin Treatment Admissions in Urban and Rural Areas.

In 1999, substance abuse treatment admissions with 5 or more prior treatment episodes were more likely to be homeless, paid by Medicaid, and out of the labor force than first time admissions.  See  The DASIS Report: Characteristics of Repeat Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment.

In 2000,  67 percent of those aged 12 or older (over 148 million persons) in the United States reported any cigarette use during their lifetime. Among smokers of at least 100 cigarettes, 42 percent reported not smoking during the past year.  See The NHSDA Report:  Former Cigarette Smokers.

Individuals with both mental and substance abuse disorders are said to be "dually diagnosed."  Other terms for this are "co-occurring disorders" and "comorbidity."  Facilities offering hospital inpatient care were more likely to provide service for dually diagnosed clients than were other types of facilities.  See The DASIS Report: Facilities Offering Special Programs for Dually Diagnosed Clients.

In 1999, pregnant women aged 15 to 44 were more likely to enter treatment for cocaine abuse  than nonpregnant women of the same age group.  Between 1995 and 1999, the source of referral to substance abuse treatment changed for pregnant women:  Criminal Justice Referrals increased and referrals by Self/Individual or Health Care Providers decreased.  See The DASIS Report: Pregnant Women in Substance Abuse Treatment.

Among adults age 18 to 44, pregnant females were less likely to report past month illicit drug use than nonpregnant females; but rates of use were similar among pregnant and nonpregnant females age 15 to 17.  See The NHSDA Report:  Substance Use Among Pregnant Women During 1999 and 2000

Among juvenile correctional facilities, 37 percent provided on-site substance abuse treatment and 59 percent conducted drug testing.  See The DASIS Report: Drug and Alcohol Treatment in Juvenile Correctional Facilities.

In 1999 and 2000, past month use of most tobacco products was more common among persons from families with lower incomes than among persons from families with higher incomes. See  The NHSDA Report:  Tobacco Use, Income, and Educational Level.

In 1999, about 40 percent of substance abuse treatment admissions were first treatment episodes and 60 percent were repeat substance abuse treatment episodes.  For their primary drugs of abuse, see The DASIS Report: New and Repeat Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment.

An estimated 27 million persons aged 12 to 64 lived in families that received government assistance in the year prior to the interview.  For their alcohol and illicit drug use rates, see   The NHSDA Report:  Substance Use Among Persons in Families Receiving Government Assistance.

From 1993 to 1999, national alcohol treatment admission rates declined by 24 percent.  From 1993 to 1999, alcohol admission rates decreased in more than 70 percent of the States that reported. The largest rate decreases were seen in some Central States.  See The DASIS Report: Alcohol Treatment Admissions Decrease: 1993-1999.

In 2000, almost 7 million persons aged 12 to 20 (under the legal drinking age) was a binge drinker.  The rate of binge drinking among underage persons (19 percent) was almost as high as among adults aged 21 or older (21 percent).  Underage persons who reported binge drinking were 7 times more likely to report illicit drugs during the past month than underage persons who did not binge drink. See The NHSDA Report:  Binge Drinking Among Underage Persons.

By 1999, more than half of all  adolescent marijuana admissions were referred through the criminal justice system.  Adolescent marijuana admissions through the criminal justice system increased at a higher rate than admissions through other sources.   See The DASIS Report: Treatment Referral Sources for Adolescent Marijuana Users.

From January to June 2001, DAWN estimates that there were 308,368 drug-related ED episodes in the coterminous U.S. with 559,334 drug mentions.  Both ED drug episodes and ED drug mentions were statistically unchanged, based on comparisons of the first half of 2000 and the first half of 2001.  See ED Trends  From DAWN, Preliminary Estimates January-June 2001 With Revised Estimates 1994-2000 (PDF, 1.7 MB).  The revised estimates in this report supersede the estimates published previously for 1994 through 2000.

More than half of 1999 adolescent admissions involving inhalant abuse also involved both alcohol and marijuana.  See The DASIS Report: Adolescent Admissions Involving Inhalants.

In 2000, more than 2 million youths aged 12 to 17 reported using inhalants at least once in their lifetime.  See The NHSDA Report:  Inhalant Use Among Youths.

In 1999, alcohol or cocaine abuse accounted for almost two thirds of the 366,000 Black treatment admissions.  Black female admissions were more likely to involve treatment for "hard" drugs (e.g., opiates and cocaine) than were Black male admissions.  See The DASIS Report:  Black Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment, 1999.

Heroin, cocaine, and alcohol-in-combination with other drugs were the three most common substances in drug-related deaths reported by medical examiners participating in the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) in 2000. Narcotic analgesics - including methadone, codeine, hydrocodone and oxycodone - also frequently ranked in the top 10 drugs mentioned by medical examiners in the DAWN mortality report.  In 2000, 137 medical examiner jurisdictions from 43 metropolitan areas reported on drug-related deaths to DAWN.  See Mortality Data From DAWN, 2000 (PDF, 3.6 MB).

Alcohol was reported as the primary substance of abuse by almost half of 1999 treatment admissions.  The secondary drug problems identified on admission records for persons with primary alcohol abuse included marijuana (62 percent), crack cocaine (26 percent), powder cocaine (20 percent), methamphetamine (9 percent), and heroin (7 percent).  See The DASIS Report: Treatment Admissions for Alcohol Abuse, Alone and with a Drug Problem.

In 2000, approximately 61 percent of youths aged 12 to 17, or more than 14 million, participated in team sports during the past year.   Rates of past month use of tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs were generally lower among team sports participants than nonparticipants.  However, the rate of past month smokeless tobacco use was higher among team sports participants than nonparticipants.   See The NHSDA Report:  Team Sports Participation and Substance Use Among Youths.

In 1999, there were about 43,000 American Indian and Alaska Native admissions to publicly funded substance abuse treatment facilities.  Among American Indians/Alaska Natives, admissions for alcohol abuse declined by 11 percent between 1994 and 1999, while admissions for illicit drugs increased by 78 percent.  See The DASIS Report: American Indians and Alaska Natives in Substance Abuse Treatment.

Abuse of alcohol alone was the most common substance problem for admissions to substance abuse treatment between 1994 and 1999.  Forty-five percent of alcohol-only admissions were referred to treatment through the criminal justice system.  See The DASIS Report: Admissions to Treatment for Abuse of Alcohol Alone.

An estimated 66.8 million Americans reported using a tobacco product in the past month in 1999, a prevalence rate of 30.2 percent for the population aged 12 years old or older.  Of this total, 57.0 million (25.8 percent) smoked cigarettes, 12.1 million (5.5 percent) smoked cigars, 7.6 million (3.4 percent) used smokeless tobacco, and 2.4 million (1.1 percent) smoked tobacco in pipes.  See Tobacco Use in America:  Findings from the 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (PDF format 3KB).

American Indian/Alaska Native youths aged 12 to 17 were more likely than youths from other racial/ethnic groups to smoke cigarettes during the past month.   See The NHSDA Report: Cigarette Use Among American Indian/Alaska Native Youths.

Heroin treatment admission rates between 1993 and 1999 increased by 200 percent or more in six States and by 100-199 percent in another 11 States.  See The DASIS Report:  Heroin Treatment Admissions Increase: 1993-1999.

Marijuana treatment admission rates increased in 41 States between 1993 and 1999.  See The DASIS Report:  Marijuana Treatment Admissions Increase: 1993-1999.

Youths who were past month users of both cigarettes and alcohol were more than twice as likely to have used illicit drugs than youths who used only cigarettes or only alcohol.  See The NHSDA Report:  Illicit Drug Use Among Youths Who Used Cigarettes and Alcohol.

Four substances accounted for 91 percent of all substance abuse treatment admissions in SAMHSA's Treatment Episode Data Set.   See Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) 1994-1999: National Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment Services (PDF format).

Trends among treatment admission from 1993 to 1999 show declining admission rates for primary cocaine abuse in most states.  See The DASIS Report:  Cocaine Treatment Admissions Decrease: 1993-1999.

Whites were more likely than Hispanics, blacks, and Asians to report driving under the influence of alcohol during the past year.  See The NHSDA Report:  Alcohol Use .

Marijuana use was higher among youth who perceived high rates of such neighborhood characteristics as crime, drug selling, street fights, abandoned buildings, and graffiti than youth perceiving low rates of such neighborhood characteristics.  See  The NHSDA Report:  Neighborhood Characteristics and Youth Marijuana Use.

Alcohol abuse admissions among older adults declined between 1994 and 1999, but illicit drug admissions increased.  See The DASIS Report:  Older Adults in Substance Abuse Treatment .

In 2000, an estimated 568,000 persons aged 55 or older had used illicit drugs in the past month and over 5 million were "binge" alcohol users, including more than 1 million who were heavy alcohol users.  See The NHSDA Report:  Substance Use Among Older Adults.

By 1999, high amphetamine treatment admission rates were seen in most States west of the Mississippi.  See The DASIS Report:  Amphetamine Treatment Admissions Increase:  1993-1999. 

Among males aged 18 to 25, veterans were more likely than nonveterans to report past month alcohol use.  See The NHSDA Report:  Alcohol Use Among Veterans .

Youth who reported participating in violence during the past year were more likely to use alcohol and illicit drugs during the past month than youths who did not report past year violence.  See The NHSDA Report:  Youth Violence Linked to Substance Use. 

In 1999, veterans accounted for more than 65,000 admissions for substance abuse treatment.  See The DASIS Report:  Veterans in Substance Abuse Treatment.

Females aged 12 to 17 were more likely than their male peers to report that cocaine, crack, LSD, and heroin were fairly or very easy to obtain.  See The NHSDA Report:  Availability of Illicit Drugs to Females Aged 12 to 17.

Youths perceiving great risk from using marijuana once or twice a week were less likely to use substances than youths perceiving moderate, slight, or no risk.  See The NHSDA Report:  Beliefs Among Youths About Risks from Illicit Drug Use.

In 1999, 57 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 agreed that obtaining marijuana would be easy.  See The NHSDA Report:  Obtaining Marijuana Easy for Youths.

In 1999, an estimated 17 percent of pregnant women smoked cigarettes in the past month, compared to 31 percent of non-pregnant women.   See The NHSDA Report:  Tobacco and Alcohol Use Among Pregnant Women.

In 1999, about four percent of the pregnant women and eight percent of women who were not pregnant used an illicit drug in the past month.  Illicit drug-using women, regardless of pregnancy status, were more likely to use marijuana than any other drug.  See The NHSDA Report:   Pregnancy and Illicit Drug Use.

Highlights of Reports Released in 2001

According to SAMHSA's 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, an estimated 833,000 youths between the ages of 12 and 17 had carried a handgun in the past year.  See The NHSDA Report: Youth Who Carry Handguns.

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This page was last updated on August 26, 2004.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.

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