As in the total U.S. population, males have a higher prevalence than females for every substance, but the gender gap is larger among Asian/Pacific Islanders than in the total U.S. population. For example, the percentages of Asian/Pacific Islander males and females using cigarettes in the past year equal about 30% and 14%, respectively, as compared with 34% and 28% among males and females in the total U.S. population (Table 4.1). Given the extensive ethnic diversity of the Asian/Pacific Islander category used here, these data should be interpreted with caution; averages for the overall group may mask significant variations in the prevalence of substance use among subgroups.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2002, May 2). Prevalence of Substance Use Among Racial and Ethnic Subgroups in the United States (BKD262, SMA 98-3203)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved October 07, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/NHSDA/Ethnic/ethn1006.htm
Statistics
Race/Ethnicity
Rates of current illicit Drug use among the major racial/ethnic
groups in 2001 were 7.2 percent for whites, 6.4 percent for
Hispanics, and 7.4 percent for blacks. The rate was highest
among American Indians/Alaska Natives (9.9 percent) and persons
reporting more than one race (12.6 percent). Asians had the
lowest rate (2.8 percent).
Although Asians as a group had the lowest rate of current
illicit Drug use, there were variations among the Asian
subgroups. For persons aged 12 or older, the rates were
1.3 percent for Chinese, 2.2 percent for Asian Indians
or Filipinos, 3.0 percent for Vietnamese, 4.5 percent for
Japanese, 5.0 percent for Koreans, and 5.1 percent for
Pacific Islanders excluding Native Hawaiians (Figure 2.12).
To ensure adequate sample sizes for these population subgroups,
these estimates are based on combined 2000 and 2001 NHSDA
data.
Based on combined 2000 and 2001 data, rates of past month
illicit Drug use in the Hispanic population aged 12 or older
were 9.2 percent for Puerto Ricans, 5.8 percent for Mexicans,
3.7 percent for Cubans, and 3.6 percent for Central or South
Americans (Figure 2.12).
Among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate of current illicit Drug use was highest among American Indians/Alaska Natives (23.0 percent for combined 2000 and 2001 data).Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2002, September 4). Results from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Volume I. Summary of National Findings (Office of Applied Studies, NHSDA Series H-17 ed.) ( BKD461, SMA 02-3758)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
