Trends & Statistics

Costs of Substance Use

Use and misuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is costly to our nation, exacting billions of dollars annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity, and health care. View the data tables.

Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey

This yearly survey of teenagers measures drug and alcohol use and related attitudes among adolescent students nationwide. It is conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and funded by NIDA. Survey results are updated each autumn. View survey results and MTF publications.

National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)

NSDUH is conducted every year in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and is directed by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The survey provides up-to-date information on tobacco, alcohol, and drug use, mental health, and other health-related issues among people ages 12 and over. View the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, Trends in Prevalence of Various Drugs Table. Survey information can be found on the SAMHSA website.

National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS)

NDEWS monitors drug use trends in 12 sentinel communities across the United States. Sentinel Site profiles describing drug use trends and emerging issues are available on the University of Maryland NDEWS Sentinel Community Site Reports website.

Overdose Deaths (CDC WONDER)

CDC WONDER (Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) makes CDC information resources available to public health professionals and the public at large. NIDA has compiled data on drug overdose deaths from this resource. Please note that not all drug types are reported in this data set. 

Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)

YRBSS monitors six categories of health-related behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death and disability among youth and adults, including:

• Behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence
• Sexual behaviors related to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection
• Alcohol and other drug use
• Tobacco use
• Unhealthy dietary behaviors
• Inadequate physical activity

Survey methods and results are linked here: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) 

• Drug Abuse Data from the Community Epidemiology Work Group (Archives)
• Economic Costs of Drug Abuse in the United States, 1992-2002 (PDF, 2.4MB) - Detailed description by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy of the societal costs of drug use
• NIDA for Teens: Lesson Plan: Analyzing Drug-Use Data from Monitoring the Future - Activity designed to help students in grades 7-12 understand how to obtain, analyze, and interpret data, and to argue from evidence