Illicit drug use in teens on the rise, marijuana most popular

A study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed that illicit drug use is on the rise among teens, mostly due to increasing marijuana use.

According to the study, released in December of 2012, almost 9 percent of the population over 12 had used or abused an illicit drug--a number that totals about 22.5 million Americans.

Teens in trouble

The age group that has the highest concentration of drug use is older teens and young people in their early twenties, but 14-15-year-olds also have a higher average rate of use than all age groups over 35. Accordingly, drug use in these teens is growing more rapidly than ever before.

The drug most abused is marijuana, while pain killers were ranked number 3 and heroin the fifth most abused drug. The use of some harder street drugs seems to be in decline, with cocaine use dropping from 1 percent in 2006 to 0.5 percent in 2011. Marijuana rose from 5.8 percent use in 2007 to 7 percent in 2011.

The study notes that addiction treatment is sorely lacking in the US, with only 2.3 million people getting treatment out of the 21.6 million people who need it.

Source: PR Web