Chapter I.
Changing Patterns of Drug Use in America
A. Two Decades of Progress
During the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, the United States experienced an unprecedented epidemic of illegal drug use. In 1979, twenty-five million Americans -- 14.1 percent of the population aged 12 and over and the highest level ever recorded -- had used an illegal drug at least once in the month prior to being surveyed. Last year, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) estimated that about 13.9 million Americans, or 6.4 percent of the population, had used illegal drugs. Since 1979, the number of Americans who use illegal drugs has dropped by nearly 50 percent, and the percentage of the population using drugs has fallen by a remarkable 57 percent. Few other chronic societal problems have been reduced by a comparable magnitude.
Current Use of cocaine is down significantly
Figure 1
Source: 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse
Despite this dramatic drop, 34.8 percent of Americans twelve and older have used an illegal drug in their lifetime; of these, more than 90 percent used either marijuana or hashish, and approximately 30 percent tried cocaine. Fortunately, sixty-one million Americans who once used illegal drugs have now rejected them.
