National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings 1998

摘要

Substance abuse continues to be one of the foremost health and social problemsfaced by our Nation today. The use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco is responsible for more than one in four preventable deaths each year, as well as substantial health care costs, productivity loss, criminal activity, and unmeasurable suffering (Institute for Health Policy, 1993). Recent estimates reveal that alcohol and drug abuse cost the Nation about $246 billion in 1992, $148 billion associated with alcohol abuse and alcoholism and $98 billion associated with drug abuse and dependence (Harwood, Fountain, & Livermore, 1998). A creditable, national surveillance system for monitoring the levels of substance abuse in the United States is one of the essential tools for allowing researchers and policymakers to better understand and control this problem. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) was established in 1971 for this purpose. This report presents the main findings of the 1998 NHSDA. The 1998 survey provides information on the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco among the estimated 218 million members of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older in the United States.