Social Indicators: Substance Abuse

Drug abuse was confined mainly to the poor and certain subcultures until recently. Drug abuse escalated and entered mainstream culture during the 1960s and 1970s. Few reliable time-series statistics exist that measure levels of drug abuse over an extended period. The most widely used statistics come from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). From about 1979 to 1991, these surveys were conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). From 1991 to the present, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has conducted the survey. The survey was redesigned in 1999 and again in 2001, with each change making the newer data strictly non-comparable with earlier data.

The existing data suggest that substance abuse by the overall population peaked in the late 1970s. The percentage of the population aged 12 and older that had used any illicit drug in the last month in 1979 was 14.1%. This number declined to 12.1% by 1985. Three years later, that percentage had dropped to 7.9%, and by 1992 it hit a low of 5.8%. By the late 1990s, the rate had leveled off at about the 6.3% range. It may have risen slightly since that time. The amount of Substance abuse is likely about half the level it was twenty-five years ago.

Substance abuse by youth data has been consistently measured since 1975 by Monitoring the Future at the University of Michigan. Their data reveals the following:

• The use of any illicit drugs among high school seniors peaked in 1979.
• The use of any illicit drug excluding marijuana, peaked in 1981.
• Both measures hit thirty-year lows in 1992.
• Both measures increased significantly over the next four years before stabilizing. (Likely due to a de-emphasis on enforcement of drug laws during the Clinton Administration.)
• Current rates are higher than a decade ago but are still as low as rates in the early 1970s.

 

• The 30-year peak in Alcohol use by High School Seniors was in 1978.
• Alcohol use declined from 1980 until 1993. It increased slightly over four years and then has declined somewhat since 1997.
• The 30-year peak in cigarette use was in 1976.
• Cigarette usage dropped from 1976 until 1980, reaching about 30%, and remained until 1993.
• Cigarette usage experienced a brief spike from 1994-1997 but has declined to its lowest rate in thirty years.
• Present usage of both Alcohol and Cigarettes is about one-third lower than their 1978 and 1976 respective highs.

The survey data does not include High School dropouts or absentees. Drug abuse is believed to be much higher among this population, but they are a small portion of the youth population. While drug use is undoubtedly much higher than before the mid-1960s, it is lower by nearly 40% from the late 1970s. There is no evidence of a widespread drug abuse epidemic in schools or among youth in general.

Conclusion

Rates of substance abuse give a mixed message since they have fluctuated over the last decade, but they have declined over the long term. This indicator suggests a stabilized, if not improving, quality of life.

Comments

[will spotts]

That spike in the mid 90's is very pronounced.

This one conforms to my anecdotal evidence pretty well. I'm curious how you interpret the change -- it struck me as a change in climate or fashion. I'm not sure how this relates to enforcement.

Also interesting is the huge (and fairly consistent) gap between marijuana and other drugs. This seems to suggest a perception difference between substances -- one is "a little bit illegal" or a little bit harmful or risky, wheras others are viewed as far more serious on both fronts.

[Michael Kruse]

Substance abuse is not an issue I have followed a great deal. You can certainly see that marijuana use was responsible for much of the 1990s increase. You can see that law enforcement has some impact on use as the "War on Drugs in the late 1980s led to significant decreases and the Clinton era policy not to be as aggresive about marijuana led to increased use. I think you are right about marijuana having a more nebulous status.