Substance Abuse Statistics

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Among Americans aged 12 years and older, 37.309 million were current

illegal drug users (used within the last 30 days) as of 2020

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• 13.5% of Americans 12 and over used drugs in the last month, a 3.8% increase year-over-year (YoY).

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• 59.277 million or 21.4% of people 12 and over have used illegal drugs or misused prescription drugs within the last year.

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• 138.543 million or 50.0% of people aged 12 and over have illicitly used drugs in their lifetime.

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• Usership among people aged 12 and over is down 0.4% YoY.

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• 138.522 million Americans 12 and over drink alcohol.

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• 28.320 million or 20.4% of them have an alcohol use disorder.

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• 57.277 million people use tobacco or nicotine products (vape).

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• 25.4% of illegal drug users have a drug disorder.

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• 24.7% of those with drug disorders have an opioid disorder; this includes prescription pain relievers or “pain killers” and heroin).

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• Drug abuse and substance disorders are more likely to affect young males

 

• 22% of males and 17% of females used illegal drugs or misused prescription drugs within the last year.

 

• 5% of people in non-metropolitan, rural counties used illegal drugs compared to 20.2% of people in larger metropolitan counties.

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• Drug use is highest among persons between the ages of 18-25 at 39% compared to persons aged 26-29, at 34%.

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• 70% of users who try an illegal drug before age 13 develop a substance abuse disorder within the next 7 years compared to 27% of those who try an illegal drug after age 17.

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• 47% of young people use an illegal drug by the time they graduate from high school; other users within the last 30 days include:

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1.  5% of 8th graders.

2.  20% of 10th graders.

3.  24% of 12th graders.

4.  Opioid Abuse

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized expansion of Medicare coverage to include opioid treatment programs delivering MAT (medication-assisted-treatment) effective Jan. 1, 2020.

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• 9.49 million or 3.4% of Americans aged 12 and older misuse opioids at least once over a 12-month period.

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• 12-month opioid usership among Americans 12 and over declined 8.1% from 2019 to 2020.

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• 2.702 million or 1.0% individuals 12 and over qualify as having an opioid use disorder.

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• 9.7 million or 96.6% of opioid misusers use prescription pain relievers.

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• 745,000 or 7.4% of opioid misusers abuse heroin; 404,000 or 4.0% use heroin and prescriptions.

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• Hydrocodone is the most popular prescription opioid, with 5.1 million misusers.

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• Taking opioids for a period longer than 3 months increases the risk of addiction 15 times- most persons in acute pain rarely need more than 7 days’ worth

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More Astonishing and Sad Statistics

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The national opioid prescription rate peaked in 2012 with over 255 million prescriptions, an average of 81.3 prescriptions per 100 persons.

Additionally:

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• In 2015, opioids were still being prescribed at a rate that would medicate every American around the clock (5mg of hydrocodone every 4 hours) for 3 weeks.

 

• By 2018, the number had declined to 51.4 prescriptions per 100 persons.

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• In 11% of US counties, there are still enough opioid prescriptions dispensed for every resident to have one.

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• In 2018, 51.3% of Americans obtained their illegal pain medication from a friend or relative.

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• Between 2016 and 2017, global opium production jumped 65% to 10,500 tons.

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• In Afghanistan, alone production reached 9,000 tons/year, an increase of 87%.

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• More than 75% of opium poppy cultivation occurs in Afghanistan.

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• The most common type of substance exposure reported to poison control centers is illegal or misused prescription opioids, with nearly 284,000 cases of exposure, including:

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• 44% of cases were for children under the age of 5, including 5,300 exposures to heroin and fentanyl.

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• The exposure of children under 5 to marijuana increased by 148% over a 7-year period.

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• Exposure to prescription opioids increased 93% each year over a 9-year period.

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• NCDAS: Substance Abuse and Addiction Statistics [2023]
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     Drug-Related Deaths

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• Accidental drug overdose is a leading cause of death among persons under the age of 45.

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• Over 70,000 drug overdose deaths occur in the US annually.

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• The number of overdose deaths increases at an annual rate of 4.0%.

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• From 2012 to 2015, the US saw a 264% increase in synthetic opioid (other than methadone) deaths.

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• Between 1999-2017, over 700,000 people died of drug overdoses in the US.

 

• In 2017, 67.8% of the 70,237 drug overdose deaths were opioid-related, including:

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• 28,466 deaths were fentanyl-related.

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• 17,029 deaths were prescription- opioid-related.

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• 15,482 deaths were heroin-related.

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• Drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and tramadol increased by 10% between 2017 and 2018.

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• The average life expectancy in the United States actually declined between 2015 and 2017 due to opioid overdose deaths, only increasing 0.16% to 78.93 years in 2019.

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• In 2019, clinics who dealt with primary care, pain management or substance abuse disorders saw drastic increases in urine samples testing positive for potentially fatal drugs:

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• 4% of urine samples tested positive for meth, compared to 1.4% in 2013.

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• 5% of urine samples tested positive for fentanyl compared to 1% in 2013.

• For more information, see our report on overdose deaths.

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• Signs of an Overdose

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• If you know someone who uses drugs, particularly opioids or fentanyl, watch for these overdose symptoms:

  • Cold, clammy skin

  • Cyanosis

  • Pinpoint Pupils

  • Slowed respiration

  • Unconsciousness