Pubdate: Thu,  4 Oct 2001
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright: 2001 Associated Press
Author: Jennifer Loven, Associated Press

REPORT: US DRUG USE RATE UNCHANGED

WASHINGTON (AP) - Drug abuse in America was essentially unchanged last 
year, the government says.

About 6 percent of those over 12 years old - or 14 million Americans - were 
illegal drug users in 2000, according to an annual survey by the Substance 
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an arm of the Department 
of Health and Human Services.

The findings were not significantly different from 1999, either in the 
overall percentage of drug users or in the use of any of the major illegal 
drugs.

However, the percentage of 12- and 13-year-olds last year that had used an 
illegal drug in the month before being interviewed fell to 3 percent from 
3.9 percent, the survey found.

The rate of those who had driven under the influence of drugs also 
declined, to 3.1 percent from 3.4 percent, it said.

In 1999, the number of those trying marijuana for the first time dropped, 
to 2 million new users from 2.6 million in 1996.

But marijuana use increased among women from 1999 to 2000, from 3.1 percent 
to 3.5 percent.

The survey also identified nonmedical use of the powerful prescription 
painkiller OxyContin, though still rare, as an emerging concern. The number 
of OxyContin abusers increased to 399,000 in 2000 from 221,000 in 1999. The 
pill, which produces a quick, heroin-like and potentially lethal high when 
chewed, snorted or injected, has been linked to more than 100 deaths 
nationwide since 1998.

Overall, 1.5 million Americans abused pain relievers for the first time in 
1999, a large jump since the mid-1980s when the number was below 400,000. 
The rise chiefly came among 12- to 17-year-olds.

Edward Jurith, acting director of the White House's Office of National Drug 
Control Policy, said some of the news, especially concerning drug use 
declines among the youngest adolescents, was encouraging.

But, he said, "More work is required to protect our youth from the harmful 
effects of drug abuse."

The face-to-face interviews were conducted during 2000 with a sample of 
71,764 people.
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