Many people believe cocaine use is down and no longer as big of a threat. This is not true. Throughout the 1980's cocaine use was at it's peak, and continued to decline until the early 1990's. Since then, cocaine use has been rising again in the United States.
According to drug-statistics.com, nearly half of all drug related emergency room visits are connected to cocaine. Which goes to prove the fact that cocaine is again becoming a substance abuse problem. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports cocaine related emergency room visits has increased 33 percent. Estimates indicate that about two million people are cocaine addicts in the United States.
Cocaine statistics, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), come to about 0.7% of the population, age 12 and older, has used cocaine in the last month. This may not seem like very many people, but according the trend in the number of new users, this means there are more than a million new users per year. .
Cocaine is more commonly used amonst adults. Even in the 1980s, when cociane use was at it's peak, most cocaine users were at least 18 years of age. The age group with the highest percentage of cocaine use is the 18-25 age group. Drug-statistics.com report, college students have been increasing their use of cocaine from 2% in 1994 up to 4.8 percent.
Males are more likely to use cocaine than females. However, that gap is narrowing. There are now 0.7 million new male users each year, and 0.5 million new females each year. Unfortunately, there are more than 400,000 infants are born addicted to cocaine each year in the United States.
The good news is that among high school sophomores, the use of cocaine is decreasing. NIDA reports that past-year use of crack cocaine decreased in 10th graders from 2.3 percent to 1.6 percent. This is encouraging, let's just hope they stick to it and do not join the over 18 first time users. However, there is speculation that the decline in cocaine use among teenagers has more to do with the inexpensive availability of prescription drugs.
The most common racial group of cocaine abusers are American Indians and/or Alaskan natives, which is about 2%. Other cocaine use rates include 1.6% for African Americans, 0.8% for Caucasians, 0.8% for Hispanics, 0.6% for Pacific Islanders and/or Native Hawaiians and 0.2% for Asians.
Despite encouraging trends in the late 1980s, it is evident that cocaine use is again on the rise. If you or a loved one has started using cocaine or has become addicted to cocaine it is time to get help. There are many drug rehab facilities that specialize in cocaine treatment.
