A decade of trends in cocaine use in the household population

Abstract

The National Survey provides us with a number of realities about cocaine use in the Nation today: Twenty million or more Americans have now tried it, and half of that number are past-year users. Cocaine use tends to be concentrated in the high-risk 18 to 25 population group. The highest prevalence rates are observed in young white males, in young residents of the West and the Northeast, and among white and college-educated young people. The young adult cocaine user is likely to consume this drug occasionally and to be a more frequent user of alcohol and/or marijuana. It is not unusual for him or her to use marijuana in combination with cocaine. With respect to recent trends, even though dramatic increases in cocaine prevalence among young adults have leveled off, this still means that high levels of cocaine use are being maintained by young Americans. Moreover, small but steady increases in prevalence are continuing for the youth population. And, the overall number of Americans who have used and are using cocaine continues to increase as new cohorts of young persons begin and continue the use of this drug--even as they move into the older age ranges.