Policy Home

Other Resources

Annual Reports Strategy
PME
Budget
Counterdrug
   Blueprint

Fact Sheets and    Circulars

ONDCP Web Site About ONDCP News and Public Affairs Policy Drug Facts Publications Related Links
Prevention Treatment Science and Technology Enforcement State and Local International Funding
Start of Main Content

National Drug Control Strategy
Update 2003

February 2003

Table 3. Estimated Number of Chronic and Occasional Users of Cocaine and Heroin, 1988�2000 (Thousands)

Year

Cocaine users

Heroin users

Occasional1

Chronic2

Occasional1

Chronic2

1988

6,000

3,984

170

1,341

1989

5,300

3,824

150

1,266

1990

4,600

3,558

140

1,119

1991

4,478

3,379

359

1,015

1992

3,503

3,269

304

955

1993

3,332

3,081

230

945

1994

2,930

3,032

281

932

1995

3,082

2,866

428

923

1996

3,425

2,828

455

910

1997

3,487

2,847

597

904

1998

3,216

2,800

253

901

1999

3,216

2,755

253

898

2000*

3,035

2,707

253

898

Note: Data in this table are preliminary composite estimates derived from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) and the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program (see W. Rhodes,"Synthetic Estimation Applied to the Prevalence of Drug Use," Journal of Drug Issues 23(2):297�321, 1993, for a detailed description of the methodology). The NHSDA was not administered in 1989. Estimates for 1989 are the average for 1988 and 1990.

*Estimates for 2000 are projections.

1"Occasional" is defined as using drugs fewer than 10 days per month.

2"Chronic" is defined as more than 10 days per month.

Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, What America�s Users Spend on Illegal Drugs, 1988�2000 (December 2001).


Previous Contents Next



Last Updated: May 7, 2003