Forum on Child and Family StatisticsBEH3.A Illicit drug use: Percentage of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students who reported using illicit drugs in the past 30 days by grade, gender, and race and Hispanic origin, 1980–2019
| Characteristic | 1980a | 1981a | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8th grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5.7 | 6.8 | 8.4 | 10.9 | 12.4 | 14.6 | 12.9 | 12.1 | 12.2 | 11.9 | 11.7 | 10.4 | 9.7 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 8.1 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 8.1 | 9.5 | 8.5 | 7.7 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 8.5 |
| Gender | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Male | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5.8 | 6.4 | 8.7 | 11.9 | 12.7 | 14.6 | 13.3 | 11.9 | 12.6 | 12.0 | 13.2 | 11.2 | 10.2 | 7.8 | 8.8 | 8.0 | 7.5 | 7.8 | 9.0 | 10.3 | 9.3 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 7.7 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 7.3 | 7.2 |
| Female | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5.4 | 7.1 | 8.1 | 9.6 | 11.9 | 14.1 | 12.3 | 11.9 | 11.7 | 11.3 | 9.9 | 9.5 | 8.9 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 7.3 | 7.0 | 8.6 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 8.3 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 9.7 |
| Race and Hispanic originb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5.9 | 7.1 | 8.7 | 18.9 | 13.2 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.3 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 10.6 | 9.6 | 8.4 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 7.2 | 7.9 | 7.8 | 6.5 | 5.8 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 5.6 | 5.2 | 5.5 | 5.7 |
| Black, non-Hispanic | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3.8 | 5.1 | 7.4 | 9.1 | 10.5 | 10.8 | 10.2 | 11.1 | 10.8 | 9.6 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 9.1 | 9.3 | 8.6 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 8.2 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.4 | 9.4 | 9.1 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 8.0 |
| Hispanic | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.2 | 12.3 | 15.7 | 16.7 | 16.5 | 15.9 | 15.9 | 17.0 | 15.2 | 15.0 | 15.3 | 13.1 | 12.1 | 11.0 | 10.2 | 9.5 | 8.9 | 9.2 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 11.8 | 11.4 | 10.4 | 9.6 | 8.8 | 8.1 | 8.5 | 10.2 |
| 10th grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11.6 | 11.0 | 14.0 | 18.5 | 20.2 | 23.2 | 23.0 | 21.5 | 22.1 | 22.5 | 22.7 | 20.8 | 19.5 | 18.3 | 17.3 | 16.8 | 16.9 | * | 17.8 | 18.5 | 19.2 | 18.6 | 19.2 | 18.5 | 16.5 | 15.9 | 17.2 | 18.3 | 19.8 |
| Gender | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Male | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12.1 | 11.3 | 15.2 | 20.5 | 21.1 | 24.3 | 24.8 | 22.5 | 23.7 | 25.4 | 24.9 | 21.7 | 21.0 | 19.6 | 18.3 | 17.9 | 18.0 | * | 20.3 | 21.8 | 22.2 | 21.2 | 21.7 | 18.9 | 17.0 | 16.2 | 16.7 | 18.7 | 19.5 |
| Female | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 10.8 | 10.5 | 12.5 | 16.1 | 19.0 | 21.9 | 21.0 | 20.5 | 20.4 | 19.5 | 20.5 | 19.8 | 18.0 | 16.9 | 16.1 | 15.4 | 15.7 | * | 15.4 | 15.1 | 16.3 | 16.1 | 16.7 | 18.1 | 15.6 | 15.5 | 17.2 | 17.5 | 19.8 |
| Race and Hispanic originb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12.1 | 13.1 | 16.4 | 19.7 | 22.4 | 23.8 | 23.1 | 22.6 | 23.0 | 23.4 | 22.9 | 21.2 | 19.3 | 18.2 | 17.6 | 17.5 | * | 16.7 | 17.7 | 18.2 | 18.3 | 18.0 | 17.7 | 16.4 | 15.8 | 16.6 | 16.9 | 17.3 |
| Black, non-Hispanic | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5.2 | 6.1 | 11.4 | 15.5 | 17.0 | 17.7 | 16.4 | 15.8 | 17.0 | 17.6 | 16.2 | 16.0 | 17.5 | 16.4 | 15.0 | 14.0 | * | 14.7 | 16.8 | 19.0 | 19.9 | 20.1 | 21.0 | 19.5 | 18.1 | 16.7 | 17.5 | 19.9 |
| Hispanic | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12.7 | 15.0 | 18.0 | 20.6 | 22.5 | 24.2 | 24.2 | 23.8 | 23.7 | 23.3 | 21.4 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 19.3 | 17.0 | 15.5 | * | 19.4 | 19.7 | 20.1 | 20.6 | 21.6 | 21.8 | 19.8 | 17.2 | 16.6 | 18.7 | 20.1 |
| 12th grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 37.2 | 36.9 | 32.5 | 30.5 | 29.2 | 29.7 | 27.1 | 24.7 | 21.3 | 19.7 | 17.2 | 16.4 | 14.4 | 18.3 | 21.9 | 23.8 | 24.6 | 26.2 | 25.6 | 25.9 | 24.9 | 25.7 | 25.4 | 24.1 | 23.4 | 23.1 | 21.5 | 21.9 | 22.3 | 23.3 | 23.8 | 25.2 | 25.2 | 25.2 | 23.7 | 23.6 | 24.4 | 24.9 | 24.0 | 23.7 |
| Gender | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Male | 39.6 | 38.3 | 33.9 | 33.4 | 31.2 | 32.1 | 29.8 | 26.4 | 23.4 | 22.1 | 18.9 | 18.4 | 15.9 | 20.4 | 25.5 | 26.8 | 27.5 | 28.7 | 29.1 | 28.6 | 27.5 | 28.4 | 28.5 | 27.3 | 26.1 | 26.7 | 22.8 | 25.2 | 25.0 | 26.6 | 27.5 | 29.0 | 28.6 | 28.8 | 26.6 | 25.1 | 26.8 | 25.8 | 25.9 | 24.5 |
| Female | 34.3 | 34.9 | 26.7 | 26.3 | 26.2 | 26.7 | 24.1 | 22.6 | 19.1 | 17.2 | 15.2 | 14.1 | 12.7 | 15.9 | 18.3 | 20.4 | 21.2 | 23.2 | 21.6 | 22.7 | 22.1 | 22.6 | 21.8 | 20.6 | 20.3 | 19.3 | 19.7 | 18.4 | 19.4 | 19.9 | 19.6 | 21.1 | 21.2 | 21.0 | 20.5 | 21.8 | 21.7 | 23.4 | 20.9 | 22.3 |
| Race and Hispanic originb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | 38.8 | 38.1 | 37.5 | 31.6 | 30 | 30.2 | 29.5 | 27.1 | 24.7 | 22.5 | 20.5 | 18.6 | 16.8 | 17.8 | 21.4 | 23.8 | 24.8 | 26.4 | 27.5 | 27.0 | 25.9 | 26.5 | 27.2 | 26.5 | 25.7 | 25.3 | 24.0 | 23.1 | 23.6 | 23.9 | 24.3 | 25.0 | 25.3 | 24.5 | 23.9 | 23.3 | 23.3 | 24.0 | 24.2 | 23.1 |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 28.8 | 27.1 | 27.3 | 25.5 | 24.2 | 22.9 | 20.7 | 16.7 | 13.3 | 11.2 | 9.0 | 7.2 | 7.3 | 9.1 | 14.3 | 18.3 | 19.7 | 20.0 | 19.4 | 20.2 | 20.3 | 18.7 | 18.2 | 17.9 | 16.8 | 16.1 | 17.2 | 17.1 | 17.8 | 19.9 | 21.6 | 22.6 | 23.7 | 25.8 | 25.8 | 23.7 | 24.4 | 25.8 | 25.6 | 24.9 |
| Hispanic | 33.1 | 33.4 | 33.1 | 29.1 | 28.0 | 27.2 | 25.3 | 23.2 | 19.4 | 15.3 | 13.9 | 14.7 | 14.6 | 15.6 | 18.3 | 21.4 | 22.6 | 23.9 | 24.1 | 24.4 | 27.4 | 25.3 | 23.4 | 21.2 | 19.9 | 19.6 | 19.4 | 18.5 | 18.1 | 19.2 | 20.2 | 21.6 | 24.0 | 27.0 | 24.3 | 22.9 | 24.6 | 24.9 | 22.2 | 21.9 |
| — Not available. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Data for 10th-graders for 2008 are not included because estimates are considered to be unreliable due to sampling errors. See http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/09data.html#2009data-drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a Beginning in 1982, the question about stimulant use (i.e., amphetamines) was revised to get respondents to exclude the inappropriate reporting of nonprescription stimulants. The prevalence rate dropped slightly as a result of this methodological change. In 2013, the text for the amphetamines use question was revised again. Data for the any illicit drug index was affected by these changes. Beginning in 2013 for full sample and gender data and in 2014 for race/ethnicity data, data are based on the new version of the question. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| b A 2-year moving average is presented, based on data from the year indicated and the previous year. For data before 2005, the 1977 U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) standards for data on race and ethnicity were used to classify persons into one of the following four racial groups: White, Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, or Asian or Pacific Islander. The revised 1997 OMB standards were used for data for 2006 and later years. Persons could select one or more of five racial groups: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. In 2005, half of the sample received the earlier version of the question and half received the later one, and their data were combined. Included in the total but not shown separately are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and "Two or more races." Beginning in 2006, those in each racial category represent those reporting only one race. Data from 2006 onward are not directly comparable with data from earlier years. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NOTE: Use of "any illicit drug" includes any use of marijuana, LSD, other hallucinogens, crack, other cocaine, heroin, or any use of other narcotics, amphetamines, barbiturates, or tranquilizers not under a doctor's orders. For 8th and 10th graders, the use of other narcotics and barbiturates is excluded because younger respondents appear to overreport use (perhaps because they include the use of nonprescription drugs in their answers). Some estimates have been revised from previous publications. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SOURCE: Miech, R. A., Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., Schulenberg, J. E., & Patrick, M. E. (2020). Monitoring the future: National survey results on drug use, 1975–2019: Volume I, Secondary school students. The University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics
