Highlights
This report presents national-level data from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) for
admissions in 2011 and trend data for 2001 to 2011. The report provides information on the demographic and substance abuse characteristics of admissions to treatment aged 12 and older for abuse of alcohol and/or drugs in facilities that report to individual State administrative data systems. It is important to note that values in charts, narrative lists, and percentage distributions are calculated using actual raw numbers and rounded for presentation in this report; calculations using rounded values may produce different results.
For 2011, 1,844,719 substance abuse treatment admissions aged 12 and older were reported to TEDS by 46 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. (Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, and
Mississippi had submitted no data or incomplete data for 2011 by October 15, 2012, and are
excluded from this report.)
Major Substances of Abuse
- Five substance groups accounted for 96 percent of the primary substances reported by the 1,844,719 TEDS admissions aged 12 and older in 2011: alcohol (39 percent), opiates (25 percent), marijuana (18 percent), cocaine (8 percent), and methamphetamine/amphetamines
(6 percent) [Table 1.1b].
Alcohol
- Primary alcohol admissions declined steadily from 44 percent of admissions aged 12 and older in 2001 to 39 percent in 2005, but then increased steadily to 42 percent in 2009. In 2010 alcohol admissions fell to 41 percent and, in 2011, to 39 percent. In 2011, 45 percent of primary alcohol admissions aged 12 and older reported secondary drug abuse as well [Table 1.1b].
- Admissions for abuse of alcohol alone represented 22 percent of TEDS admissions aged 12 and older in 2011, while admissions for primary alcohol abuse with secondary drug abuse
represented 18 percent [Table 1.1b].
- Almost three-quarters of admissions for abuse of alcohol alone and for abuse of alcohol with secondary drug abuse were male (72 percent each) [Table 2.1a].
- The average age at admission among alcohol-only admissions was 41 years compared with 37 years among admissions for primary alcohol with secondary drug abuse [Table 2.1a].
- More than two-thirds (67 percent) of alcohol-only admissions were non-Hispanic White,
followed by admissions of non-Hispanic Blacks (13 percent) and admissions of Hispanic origin (12 percent). Among admissions for primary alcohol with secondary drug abuse, 59 percent were non-Hispanic White, 23 percent were non-Hispanic Black, and 12 percent were of Hispanic origin [Table 2.2].
Heroin
- Admissions for primary heroin were fairly steady over this time period; they were 16 percent of admissions aged 12 and older in 2001, 15 percent from 2002 to 2004, 14 percent from 2005 to 2010, and again 15 percent in 2011 [Table 1.1b].
- Heroin represented 88 percent of all opiate admissions in 2001 but declined steadily to 60 percent in 2011 [Table 1.1a].
- About two-thirds (66 percent) of primary heroin admissions were male [Table 2.1a].
- For primary heroin admissions, the average age at admission was 35 years [Table 2.1a].
- More than half (62 percent) of primary heroin admissions were non-Hispanic White, followed by non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics, both at 17 percent [Table 2.2].
- Seventy percent of primary heroin admissions reported injection as the route of administration, and 25 percent reported inhalation [Table 2.4].
Opiates Other than Heroin1
- Admissions for primary opiates other than heroin increased steadily from 2 percent of admissions aged 12 and older in 2001 to 10 percent in 2011 [Table 1.1b].
- Opiates other than heroin represented 12 percent of all opiate admissions in 2001 but rose steadily to 40 percent in 2011 [Table 1.1a].
- Just over half (53 percent) of primary non-heroin opiate admissions were male [Table 2.1a].
- For primary non-heroin opiate admissions, the average age at admission was 31 years [Table 2.1a].
- Most primary non-heroin opiate admissions (88 percent) were non-Hispanic White [Table 2.2].
- More than half (58 percent) of primary non-heroin opiate admissions reported oral as the route of administration, while 22 percent reported inhalation and 16 percent reported injection [Table 2.4].
1
Marijuana/Hashish
- Admissions for primary marijuana increased from 15 percent of admissions aged 12 or older in 2001 to 18 percent in 2011 [Table 1.1b].
- Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of primary marijuana admissions were male [Table 2.1a].
- For primary marijuana admissions, the average age at admission was 24 years [Table 2.1a].
- Slightly less than half (45 percent) of primary marijuana admissions were non-Hispanic White, 31 percent were non-Hispanic Black, and 17 percent were of Hispanic origin [Table 2.2].
Cocaine/Crack
- Admissions for primary cocaine declined from 13 percent of admissions aged 12 or older in 2001 to 8 percent in 2011. Smoked cocaine (crack) represented 69 percent of all primary cocaine admissions in 2011, down from 73 percent in 2001 [Tables 1.1a-b].
- Fifty-seven percent of primary smoked cocaine admissions were male compared with 67 percent of primary non-smoked cocaine admissions [Table 2.1a].
- The average age at admission among smoked cocaine admissions was 42 years compared with 36 years among non-smoked cocaine admissions [Table 2.1a].
- Among primary smoked cocaine admissions, 55 percent were non-Hispanic Black, 34 percent were non-Hispanic White, and 8 percent were of Hispanic origin.
- Among primary non-smoked cocaine admissions, 47 percent were non-Hispanic White, followed by non-Hispanic Blacks (30 percent) and admissions of Hispanic origin (19 percent) [Table 2.2].
- Seventy-nine percent of primary non-smoked cocaine admissions reported inhalation as their route of administration, and 11 percent reported injection [Table 2.4].
Methamphetamine/Amphetamines
- Admissions for primary methamphetamine/amphetamines increased from 5 percent of admissions aged 12 or older in 2001 to 9 percent in 2005, but then decreased to 6 percent in 2011 [Table 1.1b].
- For primary methamphetamine/amphetamine admissions, the average age at admission was 33 years [Table 2.1a].
- Fifty-three percent of primary methamphetamine/amphetamine admissions were male [Table 2.1a].
- About two-thirds (68 percent) of primary methamphetamine/amphetamine admissions were non-Hispanic White, followed by 18 percent who were of Hispanic origin [Table 2.2].
- Sixty-three percent of primary methamphetamine/amphetamine admissions reported smoking as the route of administration, 22 percent reported injection, and 8 percent reported inhalation [Table 2.4].
Adolescent Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment
- The number of admissions to substance abuse treatment aged 12 to 17 increased by 9 percent between 2001 and 2002 (from 145,438 to 157,896), but declined by 13 percent (to 137,868) between 2002 and 2011 [Table 3.1a].
- Forty-three percent of adolescent treatment admissions were referred to treatment through the criminal justice system [Table 3.3].
- Approximately 9 out of 10 (88 percent) adolescent treatment admissions involved marijuana as a primary or secondary substance in 2011 [Table 3.4].
Trends in Heroin Admissions and Medication-Assisted Opioid Therapy
- The proportion of non-Hispanic Whites aged 20 to 34 among heroin admissions increased from just over 1 in 5 (23 percent) in 2001 to more than 2 in 5 (43 percent) in 2011 [Table 3.5].
- The proportion of injectors aged 20 to 34 among heroin admissions increased from 1 in 4 (25 percent) in 2001 to more than 2 in 5 (42 percent) in 2011. During that period, the proportion of injectors aged 35 to 44 fell from 20 percent to 13 percent [Table 3.6].
- The proportion of heroin admissions with treatment plans that included receiving medication-assisted opioid therapy fell from 36 percent in 2001 to 27 percent in 2011 [Table 3.7].
Polydrug Abuse
Polydrug abuse was reported by 55 percent of all TEDS admissions aged 12 and older in 2011 [Table 3.8].
- Alcohol, opiates, and methamphetamine/amphetamines were reported more often as primary substances than as secondary or tertiary substances (alcohol: 39 vs. 18 percent; opiates: 25 vs. 9 percent; methamphetamine/amphetamines: 6 vs. 4 percent).
- Marijuana and cocaine were reported less often as primary substances than as secondary or tertiary substances (marijuana: 18 vs. 20 percent; cocaine: 8 vs. 14 percent).
Race/Ethnicity
Alcohol was the most frequently reported primary substance at treatment admission among all racial/ethnic groups except admissions of Puerto Rican origin. However, the proportions reporting primary use of the other four major substance groups varied considerably by racial/ethnic group [Table 2.2].
- Among non-Hispanic Whites, alcohol (41 percent) was followed by opiates (30 percent),
marijuana (13 percent), methamphetamine/amphetamines (7 percent), and cocaine (5 percent).
- Among non-Hispanic Blacks, alcohol (34 percent) was followed by marijuana (28 percent), cocaine (18 percent), opiates (15 percent), and methamphetamine/amphetamines (1 percent).
- Among persons of Mexican origin, alcohol (37 percent) was followed by marijuana (27 percent), methamphetamine/amphetamines (18 percent), opiates (13 percent), and cocaine (3 percent).
- Among persons of Puerto Rican origin, opiates (40 percent) were followed by alcohol
(30 percent), marijuana (17 percent), cocaine (9 percent), and methamphetamine/amphetamines (1 percent).
- Among American Indians/Alaska Natives, alcohol (63 percent) was followed by marijuana
(14 percent), opiates (12 percent), methamphetamine/amphetamines (6 percent), and cocaine (3 percent).
- Among Asians/Pacific Islanders, alcohol (42 percent) was followed by marijuana (21 percent), methamphetamine/amphetamines (18 percent), opiates (12 percent), and cocaine (5 percent).