NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY ON DRUG ABUSE: cocaine analysis & tables

1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

Discussion

In 1997, cocaine continued to be the second most commonly used illicit drug (following marijuana) in the United States. Approximately one-tenth of Americans in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older used cocaine at some time in their lifetime, and about 1% could be considered to be current users. The findings in this chapter show that recent (i.e., past year) and current (i.e., past month) cocaine use was more common among young adult males aged 18 to 25 than among all other age-gender groups. About 2% of the males in the 18 to 25 age group were current cocaine users. Additionally, recent and current cocaine use tended to be

higher among adults with less than a high school education and those who were unemployed

Crack use tended to be most common among males,

blacks

, adults aged 18 to 34, and adults who were unemployed.

However, it should be noted that the relationship of cocaine use and the various demographic characteristics should be investigated carefully. The interrelationships among several of these variables are likely to be complex. For example, race/ethnicity is intricately associated with educational attainment and employment status. Multivariate analyses would permit a more thorough examination of the independent contributions of individual demographic characteristics in determining cocaine use.

An especially noteworthy finding from this chapter concerned the prevalence of cocaine use among adolescents (i.e., those aged 12 to 17). First, as reported in Chapter 2 (see Tables 2.5, 2.6, and 2.7), past year use increased significantly from 1996 to 1997 among 12 to 17 year olds (1.4% to 2.2%). Patterns in the rate of initiation also have been changing, especially for the two youngest age groups. The rate of first use for 18 to 25 year olds fell from a high of 30 per 1,000 person years in 1980 to 10 in 1994 (OAS, 1998c, Table 39). Initiation rates among this age group were fairly stable from 1991 to 1994, but started increasing in 1995; the rate in 1996 was 15 per 1,000 person years. For adolescents, the rate of first cocaine usedecreased between 1980 and 1991, but rose from 4 per 1,000 person years in 1971 to 11 in 1996 (OAS, 1998c, Table 39).

Table 4.1 Percentage Reporting Cocaine Use in Their Lifetime, by Age Group and Demographic Characteristics: 1997


Demographic Characteristic	Age Group in Years				Total
Demographic Characteristic	12-17	18-25	26-34	35+	Total

Total	3.0	8.9	18.4	9.9	10.5

Gender
Male	2.7	12.1	21.8	13.0	13.2
Female	3.3	5.6	15.1	7.2	7.9
Race/Ethnicity¹
White, non-Hispanic	3.5	10.7	21.9	10.9	11.8
Black, non-Hispanic	0.4	2.5	10.4	7.9	6.5
Hispanic	3.0	8.1	10.4	6.9	7.3
Population Density
Large metro	2.5	9.5	19.3	11.1	11.5
Small metro	3.7	8.5	20.4	10.7	11.2
Nonmetro	2.8	8.5	12.8	6.7	7.3
Region
Northeast	2.0	9.7	17.7	8.7	9.6
North Central	2.1	8.2	20.0	9.7	10.6
South	3.3	7.4	15.0	8.0	8.5
West	4.1	12.0	22.9	14.5	14.5
Adult Education²
Less than high school	N/A	14.6	21.4	5.3	8.9
High school graduate	N/A	9.4	18.2	8.4	10.3
Some college	N/A	5.7	21.8	13.4	13.6
College graduate	N/A	5.7	14.0	12.6	12.4
Current Employment³
Full-time	N/A	10.9	18.3	14.7	15.1
Part-time	N/A	6.7	19.7	6.3	8.7
Unemployed	N/A	10.9	29.2	22.5	20.9
Other⁴	N/A	6.0	14.7	3.3	4.5

Note: Due to improved procedures implemented in 1994, these estimates are not comparable with those presented in NHSDA Main Findings prior to 1994.

N/A: Not applicable.

¹ The category "other" for race/ethnicity is not included.
² Data on adult education are not applicable for youths aged 12 to 17. Total refers to adults aged 18 or older (unweighted n=16,661).
³ Data on current employment are not applicable for youths aged 12 to 17. Total refers to adults aged 18 or older (unweighted n=16,661).
⁴ Retired, disabled, homemaker, student, or "other."
Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997.

Table 4.2 Percentage Reporting Cocaine Use in the Past Year, by Age Group and Demographic Characteristics: 1997


Demographic Characteristic	Age Group in Years				Total
Demographic Characteristic	12-17	18-25	26-34	35+	Total

Total	2.2	3.9	3.1	1.1	1.9

Gender
Male	2.0	5.7	4.4	1.4	2.5
Female	2.4	2.0	1.9	1.0	1.4
Race/Ethnicity¹
White, non-Hispanic	2.5	4.6	3.3	1.0	1.9
Black, non-Hispanic	0.2	1.2	4.0	2.8	2.4
Hispanic	2.3	3.6	2.2	1.2	2.0
Population Density
Large metro	1.5	4.4	3.0	1.1	1.9
Small metro	3.2	3.7	3.4	1.3	2.1
Nonmetro	1.8	3.2	3.0	1.0	1.6
Region
Northeast	1.3	3.7	2.4	0.9	1.5
North Central	1.3	3.6	3.4	1.5	2.1
South	2.4	3.3	3.4	0.8	1.7
West	3.3	5.5	3.0	1.6	2.5
Adult Education²
Less than high school	N/A	6.0	5.3	1.3	2.6
High school graduate	N/A	4.2	2.8	1.4	2.1
Some college	N/A	2.8	3.8	1.1	2.0
College graduate	N/A	1.8	1.7	0.8	1.1
Current Employment³
Full-time	N/A	4.3	2.9	1.3	2.1
Part-time	N/A	3.6	3.5	1.2	2.3
Unemployed	N/A	5.3	7.6	4.5	5.4
Other⁴	N/A	2.7	2.5	0.6	1.0

Note: Due to improved procedures implemented in 1994, these estimates are not comparable with those presented in NHSDA Main Findings prior to 1994.

N/A: Not applicable.

Table 4.3 Percentage Reporting Cocaine Use in the Past Month, by Age Group and Demographic Characteristics: 1997


Demographic Characteristic	Age Group in Years				Total
Demographic Characteristic	12-17	18-25	26-34	35+	Total

Total	1.0	1.2	0.9	0.5	0.7

Gender
Male	0.9	1.9	1.0	0.6	0.9
Female	1.1	0.5	0.7	0.4	0.5
Race/Ethnicity¹
White, non-Hispanic	1.1	1.2	0.7	0.4	0.6
Black, non-Hispanic	0.1	0.9	1.8	1.7	1.4
Hispanic	1.0	1.5	0.9	0.5	0.8
Population Density
Large metro	0.8	1.0	0.9	0.5	0.7
Small metro	1.3	1.4	0.4	0.5	0.7
Nonmetro	0.9	1.3	1.4	0.4	0.7
Region
Northeast	0.5	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.6
North Central	0.9	1.4	0.4	0.5	0.6
South	0.9	0.8	1.2	0.4	0.7
West	1.5	2.3	1.1	0.4	0.9
Adult Education²
Less than high school	N/A	2.5	1.2	0.4	0.8
High school graduate	N/A	1.0	1.0	0.5	0.7
Some college	N/A	0.6	1.1	0.7	0.8
College graduate	N/A	1.2	0.2	0.3	0.4
Current Employment³
Full-time	N/A	1.1	0.6	0.6	0.7
Part-time	N/A	1.1	1.3	0.7	0.9
Unemployed	N/A	2.3	3.7	2.0	2.4
Other⁴	N/A	1.1	0.7	0.2	0.3

Note: Due to improved procedures implemented in 1994, these estimates are not comparable with those presented in NHSDA Main Findings prior to 1994.

N/A: Not applicable.

Table 4.4 Percentage Reporting Cocaine Use in Their Lifetime, the Past Year, and the Past Month, by Age: 1997


		Time Period
Age Group in Years	(Unweighted n)	Lifetime	Past Year	Past Month

Total	(24,505)	10.5	1.9	0.7

12-17 Years	(7,844)	3.0	2.2	1.0
12-13	(2,506)	0.6	0.5	0.3
14-15	(2,750)	1.6	0.9	0.5
16-17	(2,588)	6.9	5.2	2.2
18-25 Years	(6,239)	8.9	3.9	1.2
18-20	(2,404)	8.2	4.8	1.5
21-25	(3,835)	9.4	3.3	1.0
26-34 Years	(4,387)	18.4	3.1	0.9
26-29	(1,875)	12.1	2.8	0.8
30-34	(2,512)	23.2	3.3	0.9
35+ Years	(6,035)	9.9	1.1	0.5
35-39	(1,232)	24.5	3.6	1.6
40-44	(1,081)	17.4	1.7	0.7
45-49	(911)	12.7	0.9	0.7
50+	(2,811)	2.2	0.3	*

Note: Due to improved procedures implemented in 1994, these estimates are not comparable with those presented in NHSDA Main Findings prior to 1994.
*Low precision; no estimate reported.

Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997.

Table 4.5 Percentage Reporting Cocaine Use in Their Lifetime, the Past Year, and the Past Month, by Age Group, Race/Ethnicity, and Gender: 1997


Race/Ethnicity¹ and Gender	Age Group in Years				Total
Race/Ethnicity¹ and Gender	12-17	18-25	26-34	35+	Total
(Unweighted n)
White, non-Hispanic male	(1,957)	(1,381)	(781)	(1,488)	(5,607)
Black, non-Hispanic male	(651)	(392)	(409)	(360)	(1,812)
Hispanic male	(1,025)	(826)	(531)	(497)	(2,879)

White, non-Hispanic female	(2,013)	(1,585)	(1,158)	(2,080)	(6,836)
Black, non-Hispanic female	(695)	(670)	(775)	(687)	(2,827)
Hispanic female	(1,061)	(1,037)	(603)	(679)	(3,380)
A. Used Cocaine in Their Lifetime
White, non-Hispanic male	2.8	14.1	25.1	14.0	14.6
Black, non-Hispanic male	0.3	3.5	12.3	11.4	8.6
Hispanic male	3.6	12.3	14.4	10.8	10.9

White, non-Hispanic female	4.3	7.1	18.7	8.1	9.2
Black, non-Hispanic female	0.5	1.5	8.9	5.2	4.7
Hispanic female	2.5	3.7	5.7	3.2	3.7
B. Used Cocaine in the Past Year
White, non-Hispanic male	2.0	6.5	4.9	1.0	2.4
Black, non-Hispanic male	0.2	1.4	4.0	4.2	3.1
Hispanic male	2.6	6.1	3.3	2.3	3.2

White, non-Hispanic female	3.1	2.5	1.8	0.9	1.4
Black, non-Hispanic female	0.3	0.9	3.9	1.9	1.9
Hispanic female	2.0	1.0	0.9	0.3	0.8
C. Used Cocaine in the Past Month
White, non-Hispanic male	0.9	1.9	0.7	0.4	0.7
Black, non-Hispanic male	*	1.2	2.0	2.2	1.7
Hispanic male	1.1	2.6	1.5	0.9	1.4

White, non-Hispanic female	1.4	0.6	0.7	0.3	0.5
Black, non-Hispanic female	0.2	0.6	1.7	1.2	1.1
Hispanic female	0.9	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.3

Note: Due to improved procedures implemented in 1994, these estimates are not comparable with those presented in NHSDA Main Findings prior to 1994.

*Low precision; no estimate reported.

¹ The category "other" for race/ethnicity is not included.

Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997.

Table 4.6 Percentage Distribution of Days of Cocaine Use in Their Lifetime for the Total Sample and for Cocaine Users, by Age Group: 1997


Days Used Cocaine in Their Lifetime
	Age Group in Years				Total
	12-17	18-25	26-34	35+	Total

A. Total Sample
Did not use	97.0	91.1	81.6	90.1	89.5
1-2 days	1.5	2.9	5.1	2.6	2.9
3-11 days	0.8	2.5	5.0	2.2	2.6
12-100 days	0.4	2.2	4.9	3.0	3.0
$101 days	0.3	1.3	3.3	2.0	1.9
Used in lifetime/ days not reported	*	*	*	*	*
	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

B. Used Cocaine at Least Once in Their Lifetime
(Unweighted n)	(269)	(657)	(715)	(620)	(2,261)
1-2 days	49.7	32.3	27.8	26.7	28.3
3-11 days	26.6	28.5	27.3	22.7	24.8
12-100 days	14.6	24.4	26.8	30.7	28.4
$101 days	9.1	14.8	18.1	19.9	18.5
	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

Note 1: Because of rounding, column percentages for Parts A and B may not total 100.0%. Estimates for persons who used cocaine at least once exclude those who did not report the number of days they used cocaine.
Note 2: Due to improved procedures implemented in 1994, these estimates are not comparable with those presented in NHSDA Main Findings prior to 1994.
*Low precision; no estimate reported.
Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1997.

Table 4.7 Percentage Reporting Crack Use in Their Lifetime, by Age Group and Demographic Characteristics: 1997


Demographic Characteristic	Age Group in Years				Total
Demographic Characteristic	12-17	18-25	26-34	35+	Total

Total	1.3	2.9	3.6	1.4	1.9

Gender
Male	1.1	3.6	4.5	1.9	2.5
Female	1.5	2.2	2.6	1.0	1.5
Race/Ethnicity¹
White, non-Hispanic	1.6	3.5	3.4	1.3	1.9
Black, non-Hispanic	0.2	1.1	5.6	3.6	3.1
Hispanic	1.2	1.7	2.9	1.0	1.6
Population Density
Large metro	1.2	2.7	3.2	1.6	2.0
Small metro	1.3	2.8	4.6	1.5	2.1
Nonmetro	1.5	3.3	2.6	1.0	1.5
Region
Northeast	1.2	2.1	2.9	1.4	1.7
North Central	1.4	3.5	3.8	1.4	2.1
South	0.9	2.5	3.6	1.1	1.7
West	2.1	3.5	3.7	2.0	2.5
Adult Education²
Less than high school	N/A	5.7	7.7	1.7	3.1
High school graduate	N/A	2.4	3.2	1.6	2.0
Some college	N/A	1.7	4.2	1.8	2.2
College graduate	N/A	2.6	1.2	0.7	1.0
Current Employment³
Full-time	N/A	3.0	3.2	2.0	2.4
Part-time	N/A	2.3	3.1	0.9	1.6
Unemployed	N/A	3.6	11.2	3.6	5.3
Other⁴	N/A	2.9	3.0	0.6	1.1

Note: Due to improved procedures implemented in 1994, these estimates are not comparable with those presented in NHSDA Main Findings prior to 1994.

N/A: Not applicable.

Table 4.8 Percentage Reporting Crack Use in the Past Year, by Age Group and Demographic Characteristics: 1997


Demographic Characteristic	Age Group in Years				Total
Demographic Characteristic	12-17	18-25	26-34	35+	Total

Total	0.8	1.0	0.9	0.4	0.6

Gender
Male	0.8	1.4	1.1	0.6	0.8
Female	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.5
Race/Ethnicity¹
White, non-Hispanic	1.0	1.3	0.7	0.3	0.6
Black, non-Hispanic	0.1	0.4	2.3	1.8	1.4
Hispanic	0.9	0.6	0.8	*	0.4
Population Density
Large metro	0.7	1.1	0.7	0.5	0.7
Small metro	1.1	1.1	1.1	0.5	0.7
Nonmetro	0.6	0.9	0.9	0.2	0.4
Region
Northeast	0.6	1.0	0.8	0.4	0.5
North Central	0.8	1.2	0.5	0.8	0.8
South	0.5	0.8	1.0	0.3	0.5
West	1.7	1.4	1.1	0.5	0.8
Adult Education²
Less than high school	N/A	2.4	2.4	0.4	1.0
High school graduate	N/A	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.7
Some college	N/A	0.6	1.0	0.6	0.7
College graduate	N/A	*	0.1	*	0.1
Current Employment³
Full-time	N/A	1.2	0.6	0.5	0.6
Part-time	N/A	0.5	1.1	0.4	0.6
Unemployed	N/A	2.2	3.6	2.4	2.6
Other⁴	N/A	0.7	1.2	0.3	0.4

Note: Due to improved procedures implemented in 1994, these estimates are not comparable with those presented in NHSDA Main Findings prior to 1994.

*Low precision; no estimate reported.
N/A: Not applicable.

¹ The category "other" for race/ethnic