Substance Abuse Research - The Facts
The PDFA recently released some alarming statistics from some indepth substance abuse research they carried out over the last few years.
Although as many as 8.1 million Americans age 12 and over have tried the illegal “club drug” Ecstasy, only one percent of American parents believe their children have taken the drug (according to the PDFA, 2002)
Alcohol and drug abuse cost society about $245.7 billion in 1992. Of this, about 46 percent was borne by government (NIDA, 2003).
Between 28 and 30 percent of the U.S. population has a mental health disorder, substance abuse disorder or both. (USSG, 1999).
The prevalence of substance abuse disorders in patients with severe mental illness is higher than the general population. Studies in the last 10 years document co-occurrence rates from 29-50 percent.
Three million individuals with co-occurring disorders have at least three disorders; one million have four or more (National Health Policy Forum, 1998)
The National Co-Morbidity Study (Kessler, 1994) finds 56 percent of all persons 15-54 years with a mental or addictive disorder have at least one other co-occurring disorder.
Twenty percent of youth in the juvenile justice system surfer a serious mental health disorder and up to 80 percent of the juvenile justice system could be diagnosed with a conduct disorder.
Drug abuse kills 14,000 Americans each year
A comprehensive report on American health habits finds 60 percent of adults drink alcoholic beverages and 20 percent binge drink
