• Several leading indicators suggest that prescription drug addiction is on the rise in the U.S. In 1998, an estimated 1.6 million Americans used prescription pain relievers nonmedically for the first time, a significant increase from the 1980s when there were generally less than 500,000 first-time users per year. From 1980 to 1998, the number of new users of prescription pain relievers increased by 181 percent; of tranquilizers by 132 percent; of sedatives by 90 percent; and of stimulants 165 percent.
• Of the 5.7 million users of illicit drugs other than marijuana, 3.8 million were using psychotherapeutics nonmedically in 2000. Psychotherapeutics include: pain relievers (2.8 million users), tranquilizers (1 million users), stimulants (0.8 million users), and sedatives (0.2 million users).
• The three classes of prescription drugs that are most commonly abused are opioids, which are most often prescribed to treat pain; central nervous system (CNS) depressants, which are used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders; and stimulants that are prescribed to treat the sleep disorder narcolepsy, attention-deficit hyperactivity (ADHD), and obesity.
• Use of psychotherapeutics nonmedically increased among youth aged 16 and 17 between 1999 and 2000, from 3.4 percent to 4.3 percent. The increase was observed for pain relievers as well as stimulants (particularly methamphetamine).
• Alcohol and prescription drug misuse affects up to 17 percent of older adults. As the average American continues to live longer, substance abuse among adults 60 and older is becoming one of the fastest growing health problems facing the country.

• 12.6 million Americans aged 12 and older were heavy drinkers (five or more drinks at one occasion on at least five different days in the past 30 days), and approximately one-fifth (20.6 percent) of them participated in binge drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion at least once in the 30 days prior to survey).
• In 2000, the illegal use of alcohol among teens was extremely widespread. About 27.5 percent, or 9.7 million young people between the ages of 12 and 20, reported drinking alcohol in the month prior to being surveyed. Of these, 6.6 million (18.7 percent) were binge drinkers and 2.1 million (6.0 percent) were heavy drinkers. Sixty-two percent of 12^th graders and 25 percent of 8^th graders reported they had been drunk at least once.
• Whites were more likely than any other race/ethnicity group to report current use of alcohol in 2000. (50.7 percent reported past month use). The next highest rates were for persons identified as mixed race (41.6 percent) and Hispanics (39.8 percent). The lowest current drinking rates were observed for Asian/Pacific Islanders (28 percent) followed by African Americans at 33.7 percent and American Indian/Alaska Natives at 35.1 percent.

• Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug, used by 76 percent of current illicit drug users.
• An estimated 2 million persons first used marijuana in 1999. The average age of initial use in 1999 was 17 years.

• Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. It is generally sold on the street as a fine, white, crystalline powder, known as coke, C, snow, flake or blow.
• Crack is the street name given to the freebase form of cocaine that is processed from the powdered cocaine hydrochloride form to a smokable substance. It produces an immediate, euphoric high and is also inexpensive to produce and buy.
• The long-term effects of cocaine include: addiction, irritability and mood disturbances, restlessness, paranoia, and auditory hallucinations. The medical consequences of cocaine abuse include: disturbances in heart rhythm, heart attacks, chest pain, respiratory failure, strokes, seizures and headaches, abdominal pain, and nausea.

• Hallucinogens include LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide, also known as acid, blotter, boomers, cubes, microdot, or yellow sunshines), mescaline (also known as buttons, cactus, mesc, or peyote), and psilocybin (also known as magic mushroom, purple passion, or shrooms).
• Under the influence of hallucinogens, the sense of direction, distance, and time becomes disoriented. These drugs can produce unpredictable, erratic, and violent behavior in users that sometimes leads to serious injuries and death. The long-term effects from using hallucinogens vary by individual; however, some common physical effects of using hallucinogens include increased heart rate and blood pressure; decreased awareness of touch and pain that can result in self-inflicted injuries; convulsions; coma; and heart and lung failure. Psychological effects include depression, anxiety, and paranoia; violent behavior; and persisting perception disorder (flashbacks).

• Heroin is the most abused and rapidly acting of the opiate class of drugs, and is highly addictive. It is typically sold as a white or brownish powder or as a black, sticky substance known on the streets as “black tar heroin.”
• The long-term effects of heroin abuse include: addiction, substantially increased risk of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C due to intravenous use or risky sexual behaviors, collapsed veins, bacterial infections, abscesses, infection of heart lining and valves, and arthritis and other rheumatologic problems. Because most street heroin is “cut” with other drugs or substances, users do not always know the strength of the drug or what is in it. As a result, they are at increased risk of overdose or death.
• Heroin use (without using a needle) showed a significant increase in 12^th grade in 2000. At the same time, heroin use in 8^th grade showed the first decline in some years, after having doubled between 1993 and 1999.

• Methamphetamine and amphetamine use has been on the rise since 1994.
• Methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive stimulant associated with serious health conditions, such as memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior, heart and brain damage, and increased risk of sexual behavior, which contributes to contracting hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.

• Ecstasy is a stimulant, a so-called “club drug” because of its popularity with young people at night clubs and “raves.”
• In 2000, Ecstasy use increased at all three grade levels studied (8^th, 10^th and 12^th). Its use is now more prevalent among American teens than cocaine use, and reported availability of the drug continues to increase sharply.
• Side effects and health consequences of Ecstasy use include: increased heart rate, blood pressure and metabolism; feelings of exhilaration, energy and increased mental alertness/rapid or irregular heart beat; reduced appetite, weight loss, dehydration, heart failure; mild hallucinogenic effects; and impaired memory and learning. Using Ecstasy can result in death for first-time users as well as habitual users.

Join the Voices of Recovery: A Call to Action, Overview and General Facts, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, September 2002.