A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update

Adolescent substance use is a public health concern. In a given year, more than one quarter of adolescents drank alcohol; approximately one fifth used an illicit drug, and almost one eighth smoked cigarettes. This report collects data about adolescent substance use, including initiation, receipt of treatment, and emergency department visits for substance use "on an average or typical day." The data presented are from the 2010 and 2011 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUHs), the 2010 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), the 2010 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), and the 2011 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Data in this report from NSDUH, TEDS, and DAWN are for adolescents aged 12 to 17; data from N-SSATS are for youths aged 17 or younger. This report indicates that across all of the datasets used in this report, alcohol use emerges as a source of concern and drug use, particularly marijuana use, may also be areas of concern. Most Emergency Department results for adolescents are for marijuana and alcohol. The most common used drugs were cigarettes, marijuana, and alcohol. By far, the most common substance that adolescents received treatment for was marijuana (74.5% of all substances). Understanding the impact of substance use on adolescents on an average day underscores the impact of drugs and alcohol on America’s youth. Policymakers can use this information to help inform their assessments of adolescent substance use treatment in their communities.