Prevalence of the Use of Federally Banned Substances in the US Among People Aged 12 or Older

"Among people aged 12 or older in 2024, 73.6 million people used illicit drugs in the past year (Figure 13). The most commonly used illicit drug in the past year was marijuana, which was used by 64.2 million people. In the past year, 10.4 million people used hallucinogens, and 7.6 million people misused prescription opioids (shown as 'Rx Opioid Misuse' in the figure). Smaller numbers of people were past year users or misusers of the other illicit drugs shown in Figure 13.25

"Any Illicit Drug Use

"Among people aged 12 or older, the percentage who used illicit drugs in the past year increased from 22.2 percent (or 62.0 million people) in 2021 to 25.5 percent (or 73.6 million people) in 2024 (Figure 14 and Table A.10B). This increase is largely tied to the increase in marijuana use in the past year (see the next section on Marijuana Use). The percentage of people who used illicit drugs in the past year also increased among adults aged 26 or older, from 20.5 percent (or 45.2 million people) in 2021 to 24.8 percent (or 56.4 million people) in 2024 (Figure 14 and Table A.13B). Percentages showed no change from 2021 to 2024 for adolescents aged 12 to 17 and young adults aged 18 to 25 (Tables A.11B and A.12B). Nevertheless, in 2024, more than 1 in 10 adolescents (15.1 percent or 3.9 million people) and nearly 2 in 5 young adults (38.1 percent or 13.3 million people) used illicit drugs in the past year."