Addiction Facts & Stats
- In 1966 the American Medical Association classified alcohol abuse as a disease. In 1974 the American Medical Association classified drug abuse as a disease.
- The National Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that over 80% of those incarcerated in adult & juvenile penal institutions were there directly or indirectly as a result of the disease of addiction.
- In 2009, an estimated 21.8 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to the survey interview. This estimate represents 8.7 percent of the population aged 12 or older. Illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics used nonmedically.
- The United States accounts for only 5% of the world’s population. However, two-thirds of illegal drugs are consumed in America.
- Twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners are incarerated in America, and again Americans only account for 5% of the world’s population.
- Between 1995 and 2005 treatment admissions for dependence on prescription painkillers grew more than 300%.
- More than 29% of the teens in treatment are dependent on some form of prescription medication, some of which include tranquilizers, sedatives, & opiates.
- Approximately 14 million Americans, 7.4% of the population, meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism.
- More than half of American adults have a close family member who has or has had alcoholism.
- In 2009, there were 7.0 million (2.8 percent) persons aged 12 or older who used prescription-type psycho-therapeutic drugs non-medically in the past month
- The rate of current alcohol use among youths aged 12 to 17 was 14.7 percent in 2009
- In 2009, an estimated 3.1 million persons aged 12 or older used an illicit drug for the first time within the past 12 months. This averages to about 8,500 initiates per day.
- Children of addicts or alcoholics are almost 3 times likely to be verbally, physically, or sexually abused; and 4 times more likely than other children to be neglected.
- Adults who abuse drugs often have problems thinking clearly, remembering, and paying attention. They often develop poor social behaviors as a result of their drug abuse, and their work performance and personal relationships suffer.
- In the United States alone more than 100,000 deaths each year are attributed to alcohol and drug abuse.
- Among the Nation’s alcoholics and problem drinkers as many as 4.5 million are adolescents and adolescents are disproportionately involved in alcohol-related automobile accidents; the leading cause of death among young Americans 15 to 24 years old.
- 1 in 4 deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drug use.
- In 2009, adults aged 21 or older who had first used alcohol at age 14 or younger were more than 6 times as likely to be classified with alcohol dependence or abuse than adults who had their first drink at age 21 or older (16.5 vs. 2.5 percent).
- In 2009, an estimated 22.5 million persons (8.9 percent of the population aged 12 or older) were classified with substance dependence or abuse in the past year based on criteria specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV). Of these, 3.2 million were classified with dependence on or abuse of both alcohol and illicit drugs, 3.9 million were dependent on or abused illicit drugs but not alcohol, and 15.4 million were dependent on or abused alcohol but not illicit drugs.
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