Of the 7.0 million current users of illicit drugs other than marijuana, 4.8 million were current users of psychotherapeutic drugs. This represents 2.1 percent of the population aged 12 or older, which was higher than the rate observed in 2000 (1.7 percent). Of those who reported current use of any psychotherapeutics, 3.5 million used pain relievers, 1.4 million used tranquilizers, 1.0 million used stimulants, and 0.3 million used sedatives.

In 2001, an estimated 1.7 million (0.7 percent) of Americans aged 12 or older were current cocaine users and 406,000 (0.2 percent) were current crack users.

Approximately 1.3 million (0.6 percent) of the population aged 12 or older were current users of hallucinogens.

In 2001, an estimated 8.1 million (3.6 percent) of Americans aged 12 or older had tried "Ecstasy" at least once in their lifetime. This is more than the estimated 6.5 million (2.9 percent) lifetime users in 2000. The number of current users in 2001 was estimated to be 786,000 (0.3 percent). The 2000 NHSDA was not designed to report past month or past year use of Ecstasy.

In 2001, approximately 957,000 persons aged 12 or older had used Oxycontin nonmedically at least once in their lifetime. This number is higher than estimates from both 1999 (221,000) and 2000 (399,000). The NHSDA was not designed to report past month or past year use of Oxycontin.

Current heroin use was reported by an estimated 123,000 Americans in 2001. This represents 0.1 percent of the population aged 12 or older and is similar to the number estimated for 2000 (130,000).  

Of the 16.6 million persons with substance dependence or abuse in 2001, about half (8.2 million) were substance dependent. Of these, 0.9 million were classified with dependence on both alcohol and illicit drugs, 4.5 million were classified with dependence on alcohol but not illicit drugs, and 2.7 million were classified with dependence on illicit drugs but not alcohol.

The number of persons with substance dependence or abuse increased from 14.5 million (6.5 percent of the population) in 2000 to 16.6 million (7.3 percent) in 2001 (Figure 7.1).

Among the 5.6 million Americans classified with dependence on or abuse of illicit drugs, there were 3.5 million Americans classified with dependence on or abuse of marijuana (1.5 percent of the total population and 62.0 percent of those classified with dependence on or abuse of illicit drugs).

Among past year users of heroin in 2001, 50.0 percent (0.2 million were classified with dependence on or abuse of heroin. Among users of cocaine, 24.9 percent (1.0 million) were classified with dependence on or abuse of cocaine. Among past year users of marijuana, 16.5 percent (3.5 million) were classified with dependence on or abuse of marijuana. Among past year users of pain relievers, 11.8 percent (1.0 million) were classified with dependence on or abuse of pain relievers.

There were 13.4 million persons classified with dependence on or abuse of alcohol (5.9 percent of the total population). Among past year users of alcohol, 9.3 percent were classified with alcohol dependence or abuse.

The percentage of the population with dependence on or abuse of illicit drugs increased from 2000 to 2001 (1.9 to 2.5 percent). There were significant increases from 2000 to 2001 in the rates for illicit drug abuse (0.7 to 0.9 percent) as well in the rates for illicit drug dependence (1.2 to 1.6 percent). There were significant increases in the percentage of the population with dependence on or abuse of marijuana and hashish (1.3 to 1.5 percent) and the percentage of the population with dependence on or abuse of pain relievers (0.3 to 0.4 percent).

The percentage of the population with dependence on or abuse of alcohol also increased from 2000 to 2001 (5.4 to 5.9 percent). There was a significant increase from 2000 to 2001 in the rate for alcohol abuse (3.1 to 3.5 percent) but not in the rate for alcohol dependence (2.3 to 2.4 percent).