Illicit-drug use rates remained essentially unchanged last year, although there are some positive trends over the past five years, according to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

The report, released last week, found that overall current use of illicit drugs in 2007 was 8 percent, similar to the 2006 rate (8.3 percent), and that drug use among 12- to 17-year-olds also changed little, with a marginal decrease from 9.8 percent in 2006 to 9.5 percent in 2007. There was even less year-to-year variance in current illicit drug use among adults ages 18 to 25 (19.8 percent in 2006; 19.7 percent in 2007).

Among those using illicit drugs for the first time in 2007, the most popular substances were marijuana and prescription pain relievers -- each used by roughly the same number of Americans ages 12 and older. Fewer young adults reported using methamphetamine -- a trend that federal officials credited to supply-reduction efforts -- but nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers rose 12 percent.

Current illicit drug use among adolescents declined from 11.6 percent to 9.5 percent between 2002 and 2007, and alcohol and tobacco use also declined, according to the NSDUH report. "These results confirm that progress has been made – particularly regarding substance abuse among younger Americans," said Mike Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

Illicit drug use rates more than doubled among those ages 50-59, however, which "may partially reflect the aging into these age groups of the baby boom cohort, whose lifetime rates of illicit drug use are higher than those of older cohorts," the study said.

Overall prevalence of alcohol use and binge drinking and underage drinking in 2007 was nearly the same as in 2006; the survey found that 23.3 percent of Americans ages 12 and older had engaged in binge drinking within the past month, and that 15.7 percent of youths ages 12 to 17 were current drinkers. Little year-over-year progress was reported in reducing current use of cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigars and pipe tobacco, although current use of tobacco did decline from 30.4 percent of the population in 2002 to 28.6 percent in 2007.

The effectiveness of drug prevention programs, as measured by changes in perceived risk of drugs, was a mixed bag: there was no change in perceived risk between 2006 and 2007 and only a small increase between 2002 and 2007.

More people saw marijuana use as risky, but fewer saw great risk in heroin or LSD use. Fewer adolescents said it would be easy for them to get drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin and LSD in 2007 than in 2006, however.