In the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) (formerly the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse), persons aged 12 or older were asked to report on their use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs, and youths aged 12 to 17 were asked if they had ever been in jail or in a detention center. From the results of the survey, this paper focuses on the substance use, abuse, and dependence rates among youths aged 12 to 17. Highlighted findings include: (1) in 2002, almost 1.5 million youths aged 12 to 17 had been in a jail or a detention center at least once in their lifetime; (2) youths who had been in a jail or a detention center were more likely to have used illicit drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes in the past year; and (3) past year substance abuse or dependence was almost 3 times higher among youths who had been in a jail or a detention center at least once in their lifetime than among youths who had never been detained.