Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey ** Lifetime,*** annual, and 30-day cocaine use remained stable among all three grades in 2005. Perceived harmfulness of occasional use also remained stable in 2005, measuring at 65.3 percent among 8th-graders, 72.4 percent among 10th-graders, and 60.8 percent among 12th-graders.
Use of Cocaine in Any Form by Students, 2005: Monitoring the Future Survey
Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG)**** Cocaine-related death mentions in 2003 were particularly high in New York City/Newark, Detroit, Boston, and Baltimore, as measured by one Federal data source. Reports from local medical examiner data named Texas and Philadelphia as sites with the highest rates of cocaine-related deaths from 2003 through 2004.
Primary cocaine treatment admissions in 2004 accounted for 52.5 percent of treatment admissions, excluding alcohol, in Atlanta, 38.9 percent in New Orleans, and approximately 36 percent in Texas and Detroit.
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)***** In 2004, 34.2 million Americans aged 12 and over reported lifetime use of cocaine, and 7.8 million reported using crack. About 5.6 million reported annual use of cocaine, and 1.3 million reported using crack. An estimated 2 million Americans reported current use of cocaine, 467,000 of whom reported using crack. There were an estimated 1 million new users of cocaine in 2004 (approximately 2,700 per day), and most were aged 18 or older although the average age of first use was 20.0 years.
The percentage of youth ages 12 to 17 reporting lifetime use of cocaine was 2.4 percent in 2004. Among young adults aged 18 to 25, the rate was 15.2 percent, showing no significant difference from the previous year. However, there was a statistically significant decrease in perceived risk of using cocaine once a month among Americans in the 12 to 17 age bracket in 2004.
Past month crack use was down for 16- or 17-year-olds but up for 21- to 25-year-olds; 21-year-olds also showed increases in past year use of both crack and cocaine.
Past month use of cocaine was down among females aged 12–17 and Asians 12 or older, but up among Blacks aged 18 to 25. There was a decrease in past year cocaine use measured among Asians aged 18 to 25.
Following a decline between 2002 and 2003, NSDUH data show an increase in the number of people receiving treatment for a cocaine use problem during their most recent treatment at a specialty facility, from 276,000 in 2003 to 466,000 in 2004.
* Snorting is the process of inhaling cocaine powder through the nose, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues. Injecting is the use of a needle to release the drug directly into the bloodstream; any needle use increases a user's risk of contracting HIV and other blood-borne infections. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs, where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as by injection.
** These data are from the 2005 Monitoring the Future survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, DHHS, and conducted annually by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. The survey has tracked 12th-graders' illicit drug use and related attitudes since 1975; in 1991, 8th- and 10th-graders were added to the study. The latest data are online at www.drugabuse.gov.
*** "Lifetime" refers to use at least once during a respondent's lifetime. "Annual" refers to use at least once during the year preceding an individual's response to the survey. "30-day" refers to use at least once during the 30 days preceding an individual’s response to the survey
**** CEWG is a NIDA-sponsored network of researchers from 21 major U.S. metropolitan areas and selected foreign countries who meet semiannually to discuss the current epidemiology of drug abuse. CEWG’s most recent reports are available at http://www.drugabuse.gov/about/organization/cewg/pubs.html.
***** NSDUH (formerly known as the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse) is an annual survey of Americans age 12 and older conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Copies of the latest survey are available at www.samhsa.gov and from the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 800-729-6686