According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Results From the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings, more than 12 million people age 12 and older (5.3%) reported that they had used methamphetamine at least once in their lifetime (see table 1). Of those surveyed, 597,000 persons age 12 and older (0.3%) reported past month use of methamphetamine.
Since 1999, methamphetamine has been included in the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future survey questionnaire. Survey results indicate that annual methamphetamine use (use within the past year) by secondary school students in 1999 ranged from 3.2% among 8th graders, to 4.6% among 10th graders, to 4.7% among 12th graders (see table 2). In 2002, estimates of annual methamphetamine use ranged from 2.2% among 8th graders, to 3.9% among 10th graders, to 3.6% among 12th graders.
The study also collected data on methamphetamine use by college students and young adults ages 19 to 28. During 1999, 3.3% of college students and 2.8% of young adults tried methamphetamine in the past year (see table 3). In 2002, annual use of methamphetamine declined to 1.2% for college students and 2.5% for young adults.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2001 study, 9.8% of high school students had used methamphetamine within their lifetime. Overall, white (11.4%) and Hispanic (9.1%) students were more likely than black students (2.1%) to report lifetime methamphetamine use.
