Cocaine (Table 9.2)

In the past year, an estimated 0.6% of the population aged 12 or older experienced at least one serious problem with cocaine that was related to their use in the past year, 0.4% experienced at least two problems, and 0.3% experienced at least three problems. Among people aged 12 or older who used cocaine at least once in the past year, one-third reported at least one of the seven cocaine-related problems, nearly one-fourth (23%) experienced two or more problems, and 16% experienced three or more problems. Based on an estimate of 4,169,000 past year cocaine users (Table 2.1), these percentages translate to about 1.4 million past year cocaine users who experienced one or more problems, about 1 million users who experienced two or more problems, and about 650,000 users who experienced three or more problems. About 58% of people aged 12 or older who used cocaine on 12 or more days in the past year experienced at least one cocaine-related problem, and 36% reported three or more problems.

The most commonly reported problem among people who used cocaine at least once in the past year was that cocaine had caused them psychological problems in the past year (18%), followed by extended periods spent getting, using, or getting over the effects of cocaine (17%) and use of cocaine more often or in larger amounts than intended (17%). Among youths aged 12 to 17 who were past year users, however, the most commonly occurring problem was extended periods spent getting, using, or getting over the effects of cocaine (29%). Psychological problems associated with cocaine use was the second-most prevalent problem among youths who were past year cocaine users (22%).

Among people aged 12 or older who used cocaine on 12 or more days in the past year, about 36% used cocaine more often or in larger amounts than intended or spent an extended period of time getting, using, or getting over the effects of the drug. About 34% of these more frequent cocaine users experienced psychological problems due to their cocaine use. When subdivided by the different age groups, the sample sizes of people who used cocaine on 12 or more days in the past year were too small to yield reliable estimates.

This page was last updated on December 30, 2008.