The incidence of illicit drug use in the United States, 1962–1989

The Data Note Series is edited by Bridget Grant of the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Abstract Epidemiological descriptions of drug abuse in the US in the Ian three decades have generally not included data on the patterns and trends in the incidence of illicit drug use (i.e. new users). In this paper, estimates of illicit drug use incidence are presented, based on retrospective data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Incidence of marijuana use began increasing in the 1960s and reached a peak in 1973, after which a continuing decline was seen. Cocaine use incidence began to increase in the late 1960s and reached a peak in 1982, then declined.