Illicit Drug Usage Drops; Coke Addiction Intensifies

Overall use of illicit drugs dropped significantly in the United States since 1985, but the number of heavy cocaine users jumped, according to a government survey released today.

The 1988 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found a decrease of 37% from a 1985 survey in the number of people who said they had used illicit drugs within a month of being surveyed.

However, the survey found a 33% increase in the number of people using cocaine once a week or more, and a 19% increase in the number of people using the drug daily or almost daily.

“Mindful of the destructive power of drugs and those who peddle them, this survey should not be viewed as a declaration of success, but as a rallying point for sustained and invigorated demand and supply reduction initiatives,” said Louis W. Sullivan, secretary of health and human services.

“While we celebrate our impressive gains, let us resolve to reinforce and build on them,” he said.

“Most use of most drugs by most Americans--overall drug use--is off sharply. But cocaine addiction has dramatically intensified,” said Bush Administration drug czar William J. Bennett.

“We are not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot. The reductions in American drug use are not the whole story, as anyone who watches television, reads a newspaper, or lives in a city, can see for himself. Drug crime is up, drug trafficking is up, drug deaths are up, drug emergencies in our hospitals are up--all since 1985. And much of this can be explained in one word: ‘crack,’ ” Bennett said.

Sullivan credited national media campaigns and school and community-based drug-abuse prevention programs for the decline in casual drug use. If that decline can be sustained, he said, it “in time will also influence the number of addicts.”

According to the survey, the number of people who used marijuana, cocaine or any other illicit drug within the month previous to being surveyed dropped from 23 million in 1985 to 14.5 million in 1988.

Those who used an illicit drug within the previous year fell from 37 million to 28 million--a decline of almost 25%.