One of the serious issues that the United States is facing is the use of illegal drugs. Both teens and adults are involved in illegal drug abuse. The Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provide information of the illicit drug usage trends in America. Here are the details of illegal drug usage trends in 2010 found as per these surveys. For the MTF survey 2010, the participants included 46,482 students in the 8th, 10th and 12th graders from 396 public and private schools.
It was found that, on the whole, there was no change in the measures of illicit drug use from 2009 to 2010. Marijuana use rose among the 8th, 10th and 12th graders from 2009 to 2010. It was found to be at the highest point (6.1%) since the early 1980s among the 12th graders. The marijuana use increased among the 8th graders and decreased among the 10th and 12th graders in 2010.
After several years of decline, the use of ecstasy in 2009 and 2010 had increased among the 8th and 10th graders. The survey revealed that the lifetime use of ecstasy from 2009 to 2010 among the 8th graders increased from 2.2 to 3.3 percent. There was a rise in the past-year use of ecstasy from 2009 to 2010 from 1.3 to 2.4 percent. The current use was found to increase from 0.6 percent to 1.1 percent.
It was known from the MTF survey that there was a steady decline in the current, annual and lifetime prevalence of cocaine and crack abuse among the 8th, 10th and 12th graders in 2010. Also, the amphetamine use which was at its peak (15.5%) in 2006 declined to 8.9% in 2010. Use of methamphetamine decreased from 6.5% in 1999 to 2.2% in 2010. From the surveys of 2010 it was found that marijuana and ecstasy use had increased and amphetamine, methamphetamine and cocaine use had decreased in 2010.