Substance Use Among Black Adults In The US, 2002-2008

"Trends in Substance Use
"Past month alcohol use, binge alcohol use, and illicit drug use remained relatively stable among black adults between 2002 and 2008 (Figure1).^4,5

"Past Month Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use
"Combined 2004 to 2008 data indicate that, in the past month, 44.3 percent of black adults used alcohol, 21.7 percent reported binge alcohol use, and 9.5 percent used an illicit drug (Figure 2).

"Rates of past month alcohol use and binge alcohol use were lower among black adults than the national averages. The rate of past month illicit drug use among black adults, however, was higher than the national average.

"Substance Use among Young Adults (Aged 18 to 25)
"Rates of past month and binge alcohol use were considerably lower among young black adults than the national average of young adults (48.6 vs. 61.1 percent and 25.3 vs. 41.6 percent, respectively) (Figure 3).

"Past month illicit drug use among young black adults was slightly lower than the national average (18.7 vs. 19.7 percent).

"Substance Use among Older Adults (Aged 65 or Older)
"Older black adults had a rate of past month alcohol use that was considerably lower than the national average of older adults (20.3 vs. 38.3 percent) (Figure 4). Their rates of binge alcohol use and past month illicit drug use, however, did not differ significantly from the national averages.

"Substance Use among Women
"Compared with the national averages, adult black females had lower rates of past month alcohol use and binge alcohol use and a slightly higher rate of past month illicit drug use (Table 1). Patterns varied by age group.

"Among women aged 18 to 44 who were pregnant at the time of the survey interview, blacks had a higher rate of binge alcohol use than the national average (8.1 vs. 3.6 percent) (Figure 5). As for past month alcohol use and past month illicit drug use, the rates appear to have been higher than the national average of pregnant women, but the differences were not statistically significant.

"Substance Use among Men
"Compared with the national averages, adult black males had lower rates of past month alcohol use and binge alcohol use and a slightly higher rate of past month illicit drug use (Table 2). Patterns varied by age group."