October 4, 2011

Substance Use among Black Adolescents

Black or African American adolescents have generally been shown to have lower rates of substance use than white adolescents. Researchers have suggested that family attitudes and behaviors that discourage drug use may contribute to the relatively low rates of drug use observed among black youths.¹ However, despite the lower drug use rates in adolescence, rates of drug use among black adults closely mirror or exceed those among white adults.² Since initiation of drug use typically occurs before the age of 25,³ efforts to prevent, delay, or reduce drug use among black youths, particularly efforts that target the critical period of late adolescence, may have long-term implications for improvements in behavioral and physical health, education, and employment outcomes among this population.

This report examines substance use among non-Hispanic black or African American adolescents (hereafter referred to as "black adolescents") aged 12 to 17.⁴ Combined data from the 2004 to 2009 National Surveys of Drug Use and Health (NSDUHs) are used when discussing estimates, while trends are discussed using data from the 2002 to 2010 NSDUHs. The report presented here is one in a series of reports intended to describe adolescent substance use within racial and ethnic subpopulations of the United States.

Combined 2004 to 2009 NSDUH data indicate that an annual average of 3.8 million persons aged 12 to 17—15.2 percent of the total population in this age group—identified themselves as non-Hispanic blacks of one race. Black adolescents were similar to the national average in terms of age and gender distributions. Compared with the national average, however, black adolescents were nearly twice as likely to be living in poverty (35.4 vs. 18.1 percent) and were more likely to live in large metropolitan areas (65.1 vs. 53.5 percent).⁵

The rate of past month cigarette use among black adolescents decreased from 6.6 percent in 2002 to 4.5 percent in 2010 (Figure 1). Past month alcohol use was fairly stable from 2002 to 2010. Nonmedical use of prescription type drugs among black adolescents was also relatively stable from 2002 to 2007. However, after a drop to 2.1 percent in 2008, the rate of nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs among black adolescents rose to 3.5 percent in 2009; the difference between the rate in 2009 and 2010 was not statistically significant.⁶ Finally, following a steady decline from 7.2 percent in 2005 to 5.9 percent in 2008, the rate of past month marijuana use among black adolescents increased to 7.5 percent in 2010.

Figure 1. Trends in Past Month Substance Use among Blacks Aged 12 to 17: 2002 to 2010

Rates of substance use among black adolescents were lower than national averages (Figure 2). The greatest differences were for rates of past month alcohol use (10.5 vs. 16.0 percent) and cigarette use (5.8 vs. 10.2 percent). Smaller (but statistically significant) differences were found for marijuana use (6.5 vs. 6.9 percent) and nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs (2.9 vs. 3.3 percent).

Figure 2. Past Month Substance Use among Blacks Aged 12 to 17 Compared with the National Average: 2004 to 2009

Among younger black adolescents aged 12 to 14, the rates of past month alcohol use and cigarette use were lower than the national averages (Table 1). Similarly, rates of alcohol and cigarette use also were lower among black adolescents aged 15 to 17 than the national averages. The rate of past month nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs among adolescents aged 12 to 14 was higher for blacks than the national average (2.9 vs. 2.0 percent); however, among adolescents aged 15 to 17, rates were lower among black adolescents than the national average (3.0 vs. 4.4 percent).

Figure 3 shows the dynamic interaction taking place between age and race/ethnicity for marijuana use. Black adolescents aged 12 to 14 had a rate of past month marijuana use that was similar to the national average for that age group (1.8 vs. 2.0 percent). The rate was lower among black adolescents aged 15 to 17 than the national average for that age group, and the black and national average rates were similar for young adults aged 18 to 23. However, marijuana use rates among blacks exceeded the national average for adults aged 24 to 26, 27 to 29, and 30 to 39.

Figure 3. Past Month Marijuana Use among Blacks Compared with the National Average, by Age Group: 2004 to 2009

Compared with the national averages for adolescent females, adolescent black females had lower rates of past month substance use (Figure 4). Black male adolescents also were less likely than male adolescents in the Nation as a whole to have used alcohol (10.2 vs. 15.8 percent) and cigarettes (6.3 vs. 10.0 percent) in the past month, but differences in rates of marijuana use and nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs were not statistically significant.

Figure 4. Past Month Substance Use among Black Adolescents Aged 12 to 17 Compared with the National Average, by Gender: 2004 to 2009

The rates of past month cigarette use and alcohol use among black adolescents living in poverty were lower than the national averages for adolescents living in poverty (6.8 vs. 10.6 percent and 10.7 vs. 13.5 percent, respectively). Rates of past month marijuana use and nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs, however, did not differ significantly from the national averages for adolescents living in poverty (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Past Month Substance Use among Blacks Aged 12 to 17 Living in Poverty Compared with the National Average Living in Poverty: 2005 to 2009

This report confirms that substance use rates are generally lower among black adolescents than national rates for adolescents; however, the recent increases in marijuana use and in the nonmedical use of prescription-type drugs among black adolescents highlight the need for treatment programs and prevention strategies that target black adolescents. Those designing and implementing prevention programs should also be aware of the higher rates of marijuana use among blacks aged 24 or older compared with the national averages, suggesting the need for efforts specifically tailored to the prevention of marijuana initiation for black adolescents.

This page was last updated on October 11, 2010.

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