JUST THE FACTS

Substance Abuse Prevalence Rates Among Adolescent Girls

The latest findings on drug use in the United States from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) show that marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug by girls. And research trends indicate that girls are catching up with boys with regard to illicit drug and alcohol use. In some cases, such as cigarette smoking, girls’ usage rates have surpassed those of boys.

• More teenage girls use marijuana than cocaine, heroin, Ecstasy and all other illicit drugs combined. (2004 NSDUH)
  
• Girls are closing the gap with boys in terms of usage of marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes. Since 2002, more teenage girls than boys started using marijuana. And in 2004, more girls than boys started using alcohol and cigarettes. (2002, 2003, and 2004 NSDUH).
  
• In 2002, 895,000 teenage girls started using marijuana
  
• In 2003, 657,000 teenage girls started using marijuana
  
• In 2004, 675,000 teenage girls started using marijuana
  
• In 2004, 1,500,000 teenage girls started using alcohol
  
• In 2004, 730,000 teenage girls started smoking cigarettes
  
• Teen girls surpass boys in their misuse of prescription drugs. (2005 NSDUH)
  
• One out of eight teenage girls reported smoking cigarettes in the past month (12.5% compared to 11.3% for boys). (2004 NSDUH)
  
• 18 percent of teenage girls reported drinking alcohol in the past month, compared to 17.2 percent of teenage boys. (2004 NSDUH)