Substance Abuse Statistics

Illicit Drug Use
The rates of current illicit drug use for major racial/ethnic groups were 6.6 percent for whites, 6.8 percent for Hispanics, and 7.7 percent for blacks. The rate was highest among the American Indian/Alaska Native population (10.6 percent) and among persons reporting multiple race (11.2 percent). Asians had the lowest rate (3.2 percent).

Drinking
Among people 12 to 20 years of age, past month alcohol use rates ranged from 20.8 percent for Asians and 21.2 percent for blacks to 32.1 percent for whites. Binge drinking was reported by 21.9 percent of underage whites and 22.6 percent of underage American Indians or Alaska Natives, but only 6.8 percent of underage Asians and 11.6 percent of underage blacks.

Whites were more likely than any other race/ethnicity group to report current use of alcohol. An estimated 51.0 percent of whites reported past month use. The next highest rates were for persons of multiple races and Hispanics (41.8 percent and 39.9 percent respectively). The lowest current drinking rate was observed for Asians (31.9 percent).

Cigarettes
In 1999, current cigarette smoking rates (ages 12 and older) were 36.0 percent among American Indians/Alaska Natives, 29.8 percent among persons of multiple races, 27.0 percent among whites, 22.6 percent for Hispanics, 22.5 percent for blacks, and 16.6 percent for Asians.

There are notable racial/ethnic differences with regard to brand of cigarette smoked most often in the month prior to survey. Almost half of white smokers age 12 and older (42.2 percent) and about two thirds of Hispanic smokers (61.2 percent) reported using Marlboro. Almost half of black smokers (43.9 percent) smoked Newport.

Racial/ethnic differences in usual cigarette brand used were also evident among adolescent (age 12-17 years) smokers. More than half of white (58.4 percent) and Hispanic (59.7 percent) adolescent smokers reported Marlboro as their usual brand. About three quarters (73.9 percent) of black adolescent smokers reported Newport as their usual brand.

Racial/ethnic differences were also evident for brand of cigar smoked most often in the month prior to interview. The single specific cigar brand most popular among both whites and Hispanics age 12 and older was Swisher Sweets (18.8 and 13.2 percent, respectively). For blacks, the specific cigar brand cited most often was Black & Mild (58.5 percent of black past month cigar smokers).

You can check the stats at this site for CDC, http://www.cdc.gov.