Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
1998 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 150. -  Percent of high school seniors reporting drug use, by type of drug and frequency of use: 1975 to 1997
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                        |Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class|Class
    Type of drug and    | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of  | of
    frequency of use    |1975 |1980 |1982 |1983 |1984 |1985 |1986 |1987 |1988 |1989 |1990 |1991 |1992 |1993 |1994 |1995 |1996 |1997
________________________|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____
           1            |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  | 10  | 11  | 12  | 13  | 14  | 15  | 16  | 17  | 18  | 19
________________________|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____
                        |                  Percent reporting having ever used drugs
                        |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alcohol\1\ .............|90.4 |93.2 |92.8 |92.6 |92.6 |92.2 |91.3 |92.2 |92.0 |90.7 |89.5 |88.0 |87.5 |80.0 |80.4 |80.7 |79.2 |81.7
Any illicit drug  ...   |55.2 |65.4 |64.4 |62.9 |61.6 |60.6 |57.6 |56.6 |53.9 |50.9 |47.9 |44.1 |40.7 |42.9 |45.6 |48.4 |50.8 | ---
  Marijuana only .......|19.0 |26.7 |23.3 |22.5 |21.3 |20.9 |19.9 |20.8 |21.4 |19.5 |18.5 |17.2 |15.6 |16.2 |18.0 |20.3 |22.3 | ---
  Any illicit drug other|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
   than marijuana\2\ ...|36.2 |38.7 |41.1 |40.4 |40.3 |39.7 |37.7 |35.8 |32.5 |31.4 |29.4 |26.9 |25.1 |26.7 |27.6 |28.1 |28.5 | ---
                        |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
Use of selected drugs   |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
  Cocaine ..............| 9.0 |15.7 |16.0 |16.2 |16.1 |17.3 |16.9 |15.2 |12.1 |10.3 | 9.4 | 7.8 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 8.7
  Heroin ...............| 2.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 2.1
  LSD ..................|11.3 | 9.3 | 9.6 | 8.9 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 8.4 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.6 |10.3 |10.5 |11.7 |12.6 |13.6
  Marijuana/hashish ....|47.3 |60.3 |58.7 |57.0 |54.9 |54.2 |50.9 |50.2 |47.2 |43.7 |40.7 |36.7 |32.6 |35.3 |38.2 |41.7 |44.9 |49.6
  PCP ..................| --- | 9.6 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 3.9 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 4.0 | ---
                        |===========================================================================================================
                        |                  Percent reporting use of drugs in the past 12 months
                        |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alcohol\1\ .............|84.8 |87.9 |86.8 |87.3 |86.0 |85.6 |84.5 |85.7 |85.3 |82.7 |80.6 |77.7 |76.8 |72.7 |73.0 |73.7 |72.5 |74.8
Any illicit drug  ...   |45.0 |53.1 |49.4 |47.4 |45.8 |46.3 |44.3 |41.7 |38.5 |35.4 |32.5 |29.4 |27.1 |31.0 |35.8 |39.0 |40.2 | ---
  Marijuana only .......|18.8 |22.7 |19.3 |19.0 |17.8 |18.9 |18.4 |17.6 |17.4 |15.4 |14.6 |13.2 |12.2 |13.9 |17.8 |19.6 |20.4 | ---
  Any illicit drug other|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
   than marijuana\2\ ...|26.2 |30.4 |30.1 |28.4 |28.0 |27.4 |25.9 |24.1 |21.1 |20.0 |17.9 |16.2 |14.9 |17.1 |18.0 |19.4 |19.8 |20.7
                        |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
Use of selected drugs   |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
  Cocaine ..............| 5.6 |12.3 |11.5 |11.4 |11.6 |13.1 |12.7 |10.3 | 7.9 | 6.5 | 5.3 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 5.5
  Heroin ...............| 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.2
  LSD ..................| 7.2 | 6.5 | 6.1 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 6.8 | 6.9 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 8.4
  Marijuana/hashish ....|40.0 |48.8 |44.3 |42.3 |40.0 |40.6 |38.8 |36.3 |33.1 |29.6 |27.0 |23.9 |21.9 |26.0 |30.7 |34.7 |35.8 |38.5
  PCP ..................| --- | 4.4 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 2.6 | ---
                        |===========================================================================================================
                        |                  Percent reporting use of drugs in the past 30 days
                        |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alcohol\1\ .............|68.2 |72.0 |69.7 |69.4 |67.2 |65.9 |65.3 |66.4 |63.9 |60.0 |57.1 |54.0 |51.3 |48.6 |50.1 |51.3 |50.8 |52.7
Any illicit drug  ...   |30.7 |37.2 |32.5 |30.5 |29.2 |29.7 |27.1 |24.7 |21.3 |19.7 |17.2 |16.4 |14.4 |18.3 |21.9 |23.8 |24.6 | ---
  Marijuana only .......|15.3 |18.8 |15.5 |15.1 |14.1 |14.8 |13.9 |13.1 |11.3 |10.6 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 8.1 |10.4 |13.1 |13.8 |15.1 | ---
  Any illicit drug other|     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
   than marijuana\2\ ...|15.4 |18.4 |17.0 |15.4 |15.1 |14.9 |13.2 |11.6 |10.0 | 9.1 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 6.3 | 7.9 | 8.8 |10.0 | 9.5 | ---
                        |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
Use of selected drugs   |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |     |
  Cocaine ..............| 1.9 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 4.3 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.3
  Heroin ...............| 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5
  LSD ..................| 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 3.1
  Marijuana/hashish ....|27.1 |33.7 |28.5 |27.0 |25.2 |25.7 |23.4 |21.0 |18.0 |16.7 |14.0 |13.8 |11.9 |15.5 |19.0 |21.2 |21.9 |23.7
  PCP ..................| --- | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.3 | ---
________________________|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____

\1\Survey question changed in 1993; data are not comparable to figures for earlier years.
\2\Other illicit drugs include any use of hallucinogens, cocaine, and heroin, or any use of other opiates, stimulants, sedatives, or tranquilizers not under a doctor's orders.
---Data not available.

NOTE.--A revised questionnaire was used in 1982 and later years to reduce the inappropriate reporting of nonprescription stimulants. This slightly reduced the positive responses for some types of drug abuse.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, Drug Use Among American High School Students and Other Young Adults, National Trends Through 1988; and press releases dated January 1992, April 1993, and January 1994; and University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Monitoring the Future, unpublished data. (This table was prepared February 1999.)


1998 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest