DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE AMONG TEENS IN CALIFORNIA

Real Stories from California on Teen Ecstasy Abuse

Information provided in this page is the data described in the Adolescent Behavioral Health reports derive principally from national surveys conducted by the Office of Applied Studies, a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Sources for all data used in this report appear at the end.

ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG USE BY TEENS IN CALIFORNIA

• Approximately 353,000 (10.9 percent) of the adolescents in California used an illicit drug in the past month; 246,000 (7.6 percent) used marijuana, and 175,000 (5.4 percent) used an illicit drug other than marijuana.

• In California, 108,000 males and 129,000 females used pain relievers nonmedically in the 12 months prior to the interview.

• Rates of drug or alcohol dependence or abuse were similar between males and females (8.7 v. 8.4 percent).

• In California 157,000 adolescents (88,000 males and 70,000 females) needed but did not receive treatment for drug problems in the past year.

• In California 95,000 females (6.0 percent) and 91,000 males (5.5 percent) needed but did not receive treatment for alcohol problems.

• California females were more than twice as likely as California males to have experienced a
major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year (11.9 v. 4.7 percent)

TEEN ILLICIT SUBSTANCE USE IN CALIFORNIA
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. According to the combined 2003–2006 NSDUH:

• In California approximately 353,000 (10.9 percent) of the 3,251,000 adolescents in California used an illicit drug in the past month; 246,000 (7.6 percent) used marijuana, and 175,000 (5.4 percent) used an illicit drug other than marijuana.

• There were no significant differences in illicit drug use between adolescent males and
females in California.

The misuse of pain relievers among youth is also a major public health concern.

• In California rates of nonmedical pain reliever use were similar between adolescent females and males
(8.1 v. 6.5 percent)

• Rates of past year nonmedical use of pain relievers were similar between adolescent females and males in California (5.7 v. 5.3 percent).

Adolescent Alcohol Use and Abuse in California

• 15.7 percent of adolescents (509,000) used alcohol in the past month, and 9.8 percent
(317,000) engaged in binge drinking. Binge drinking is defined as 5 or more drinks on the
same occasion on at least 1 day of past 30 days.

• Rates of current alcohol use and past month binge drinking among California adolescents
were similar for males and females; 14.7 percent of males and 16.6 percent of females
currently used alcohol, and 9.5 percent of males and 10.1 percent of females engaged in
binge drinking in the month prior to the interview.

ADOLESCENT ALCOHOL AND ILLICIT DRUG DEPENDENCE OR ABUSE IN CALIFORNIA
According to the 2003–2006 NSDUH:

• Nationwide nearly 1.5 million adolescents were dependent on or abused alcohol in the past year and more than 1.2 million adolescents were dependent or abused illicit drugs.

• Overall, the rates of past-year abuse or dependence on alcohol were significantly higher for females than males (6.0 v. 5.4 percent), but rates of past-year abuse or dependence on illicit drugs were similar between males and females.

• In California, rates of drug or alcohol dependence or abuse were similar between males and females; 145,000 adolescent males and 134,000 adolescent females were dependent on or abused drugs or alcohol in the 12 months prior to the interview.

ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT IN CALIFORNIA
State treatment data for substance use disorders are derived from two primary sources: (1) National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), an annual 1-day census of clients in treatment and (2) the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), which provides information on annual treatment admissions.

According to the 2006 N-SSATS survey:
• California showed a 1-day total of 138,342 clients in treatment, the majority of whom
(118,840 or 85.9 percent) were in outpatient treatment. Of the total number of clients in
treatment on this date, 12,174 (8.8 percent) were under the age of 18.

According to 2003–2006 TEDS data:

• In California adolescent males accounted for 67 percent (51,642) of the 76,925 adolescent substance abuse treatment admissions.

• Of the total male admissions, 42.8 percent were other drugs only, 49.3 percent were alcohol and drugs, and 7.9 percent were alcohol only.

• Of the adolescent female admissions, 43.7 percent were other drugs only, 47 percent were alcohol and drugs, and 12.1 percent were alcohol only

Among adolescent admissions in California, marijuana and alcohol were the most prevalent substances of abuse.

• Of the total male admissions, 85.3 percent (44,064) reported marijuana use and 57.2 percent (29,545) reported alcohol use.

• Of the total female admissions, 71.4 percent (18,044) reported marijuana use and 54.3 percent (13,732) reported alcohol use.

• Further, 22.8 percent (17,507) of total adolescent admissions reported methamphetamine use, 8,960 (17.4 percent) male admissions and 8,547 (33.8 percent) female admissions. Similarly, 5.9 percent of total admissions reported cocaine use, 2,799 (5.4 percent) male admissions and 1,708 (6.8 percent) female admissions.

UNMET NEED FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT IN CALIFORNIA
NSDUH 2003–2006 estimates that more than 1.16 million adolescents needed but did not receive treatment for illicit drug problems and more than 1.3 million needed but did not receive treatment for alcohol problems. NSDUH defines “unmet treatment need” as an individual who meets the criteria for abuse of or dependence on illicit drugs or alcohol according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV), but who has not received specialty treatment for that problem in the past year.

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