From Crime in America.Net:
A new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides insight into the nature and scope of substance use and mental illness issues affecting America.
The report shows that 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (past month) illicit drug users – 9.4 percent of this age group.
Marijuana was by far the most commonly used illicit drug with approximately 19.8 million current users aged 12 and older.
In terms of other illicit drugs, the report indicates that among those aged 12 and older, there were 4.5 million current nonmedical users of prescription pain relievers (1.7 percent), 1.5 million current cocaine users (0.6 percent), 595,000 methamphetamine users (0.2 percent), and 289,000 current heroin users (0.1 percent).
Although an estimated 22.7 million persons aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem, only 2.5 million persons received treatment at a specialty facility.
The SAMHSA report also shows that 34.6 million adults aged 18 or older (14.6 percent of the population aged 18 or older) received mental health treatment or counseling during the past 12 months. Nearly one in five American adults (18.5 percent), or 43.8 million adults, had a mental illness in 2013. Ten million adults (4.2 percent of the adult population) had a serious mental illness in the past year. Serious mental illness is defined as mental illness that resulted in serious functional impairment, which substantially interfered with, or limited, one or more major life activities.
Those seeking help for mental and/or substance use disorders have many resources to turn to for help. For example, SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator: or 1-800 662 HELP (4357) can provide immediate round-the-clock information on treatment programs for mental and/or substance use disorders throughout the nation.
SAMHSA’s Suicide Prevention Resource Center at http://www.sprc.org provides information on a wide range of suicide prevention programs and resources that people who are dealing with this issue can draw upon.
SAMHSA’s National Suicide Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ provides real time, toll-free, confidential suicide prevention counseling services 24/7 all year round to people in immediate crisis, or who know someone who may be considering suicide.
Substance Use and Mental Health Estimates from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Overview of Findings is available at: http://www.samhsa.gov/data/2k14/NSDUH200/sr200-findings-overview-2014.pdf .