Drug Addiction: Phases of Addiction Part 2
By Eric Dunbar Author of the e-Book “The Face of a Demon”
One of the most destructive and addicting drugs on the streets today is crack-cocaine. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) reported in 1999 that cocaine was used by 3.7 million Americans, or 1.7 percent of the household population aged 12 and over. Estimates of the current number of those who use cocaine regularly (at least once per month) varies, but 1.5 million is a widely accepted figure within the research community.
Although cocaine use had not significantly changed over the six years prior to 1999, the number of first-time users went from 574,000 in 1991, to 934,000 in 1998—an increase of 63%. While these numbers indicated that cocaine is still widely present in the United States cocaine use was significantly less prevalent than it was during the early 1980s. Cocaine use peaked in 1982 when 10.4 million Americans (5.6 percent of the population) reportedly used the drug.
The survey conducted in 1999 found the proportion of American students reporting use of powder cocaine rose during the 1990s. In 1991, 2.3 percent of eighth-graders stated that they had used cocaine in their lifetime. This figure rose to 4.7 percent in 1999. For the older grades, increases began in 1992 and continued through the beginning of 1999. Between those years, lifetime use of cocaine went from 3.3 percent to 7.7 percent for tenth-graders and from 6.1 percent to 9.8 percent for twelfth-graders. Lifetime use of crack cocaine also increased among eighth, tenth, and twelfth-graders, from an average of 2 percent in 1991 to 3.9 percent in 1999.
But since crack hit the streets of America many other dangerous drugs have become popular among those who chose to use drugs for whatever reason, and many of the newer drugs are more dangerous than crack. Drug use is more responsible for the rise in crime rates rather than the emotional destruction that the drug commands. Drugs affect every sector of our society. From the suburbs to the inner cities, from the unemployed and homeless person to the influential businessman and woman, the influence of and homeless person to the influential businessman and woman, the influence of drugs are prevalent everywhere.
