Drug Addiction Facts And Statistics

Drug addiction is an extensive problem that greatly impacts addicted people as well as their families and society as a whole. Addiction affects people in all walks of life, and it leads to problems that can include financial burdens, relationship difficulties, overdose, health troubles, and an inability to keep up with work, school, and family responsibilities.

Drug addiction facts and statistics help us collectively understand the extent of the problem and factors contributing to it. They also provide information that contributes to solutions, guiding us to the best ways to help those who are addicted and to trends that need to be addressed on a wider level, such as the opioid epidemic.

Drug addiction statistics reveal a story of immense suffering, rampant abuse, and great public danger. In 2019:

• 19.3 million people aged 12 and over suffered from a substance use disorder.
• Among people aged 12 or older in 2019, 57.2 million people used illicit drugs in the past year.
• Marijuana use increased sharply from 15.9% (2018) to 17.5% in 2019.
• 10.1 million people misused opiates in the past year.
• Among people aged 12 or older in 2019, 2.0 million people used methamphetamines in the past year.
• Among individuals aged 12 or older, the misusers of prescription pain relievers declined from 4.7 percent (or 12.5 million people) in 2015 to 3.5 percent (or 9.7 million people) in 2019.
• The number of people with a substance use disorder remained constant between 2015 and 2019 and slightly over 20 million.

In the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 19.3 million American adults reported a past-year substance use disorder, and out of this group 9.5 million (49.2 percent) also suffered from a co-occurring mental health disorder. The range of co-occurring disorders known to coincide with drug addiction is broad and includes virtually every type of mental illness recognized by the American Psychiatric Association.

It is generally believed that people with mental health issues turn to drugs and alcohol to self-medicate, although excessive drug consumption may play a role in the onset of conditions like depression or anxiety disorders in some cases.

While drug addiction greatly impacts people on personal and family levels, it also has a significant impact on society. A 2011 study by the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) showed that illicit drug use cost the U.S. economy more than $193 billion in 2007. This included costs from healthcare, losses in productivity, and crime.

Regardless of which came first, when co-occurring disorders are present simultaneously with addiction, all conditions must be treated together if true healing is to occur.

The NSDUH illicit drug use disorder statistic did not include addiction to alcohol, whereas many statistics include drug and alcohol addiction together under the diagnosis of substance use disorder.

To compare drug addiction to alcohol addiction, of the about 20.4 million Americans with a substance use disorder in 2019, 14.5 million had an alcohol use disorder compared to the 8.3 million people with an illicit drug use disorder.

The reason the numbers do not add up is that many people have a co-occurring addiction to alcohol and one or more illicit drug. In 2019, approximately 2.4 million Americans had both in the past year.

In 2016, about 62 million people (0.9 percent) globally had a drug use disorder. This number did not include alcohol. Throughout the world, the main drugs attributed to this problem were opioids, which accounted for about 42 percent, and cannabis, which accounted for about 33 percent.

Of the people with a drug use disorder around the world, 40 million were men and 20 million were women. Also, according to best estimates, about 144,000 deaths were directly caused by drug use disorders.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that genetics play a large role in addiction but that additional factors are involved. It is estimated that genes are responsible for 40 to 60 percent of a person’s risk of addiction. Nonetheless, certain factors in a person’s life increase his or her likelihood of becoming addicted, while other factors reduce the risk.

Some of the risk factors that can lead to addiction include:

• Experiencing abuse or neglect at home
• Being influenced by parent or peer drug use
• Experiencing community poverty
• Experimenting with drugs, especially early use
• Having access to drugs
• Lacking social skills
• Having mental health disorders
• Getting poor grades at school
• Using certain methods of administration, such as smoking or injecting

Factors that can reduce the risk of addiction may include:

• Strong grades at school
• Anti-drug school policies
• Good support and monitoring from parents
• Community resources
• Healthy relationships
• Strong self-control

Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list of the many factors that could contribute to or protect against addiction.

Statistics on treatment tend to refer to substance use disorder, which means they include both drug and alcohol addiction together. The 2019 NSDUH showed that about 21.6 million Americans aged 12 or older (7.8 percent) needed treatment for drug addiction and substance use dependence. However, only about 4.2 million Americans (1.5 percent) received treatment, which shows that many people still needed treatment.

Drug addiction is a significant problem that affects a large number of Americans and people worldwide. It not only impacts the addicted people themselves but also their families and the societies they live in. By learning more about drug addiction and solutions to it through facts and statistics, society can work to reduce and manage this public health problem.