A new report from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) concludes that misuse of addictive drugs is relatively common in the U.S., but few people who abuse or are addicted to drugs ever get treatment, Reuters reported May 7.

Interviews with more than 43,000 people generated estimates that about one in 10 Americans have abused drugs, defined as desiring drug use to the exclusion of other activities. Researchers also estimated that 2.6 percent of Americans have been addicted to drugs during their lifetime.

Men were more likely than women to have drug problems; drug abuse and addiction were also more common among whites than blacks or Hispanics, and among young people than older Americans.

"There's this myth that they (drugs) are mostly a problem of minorities and that would just not be true," said NIDA's Wilson Compton, who headed the study.

Only 8.1 percent of drug abusers and 37.9 percent of addicted individuals said they had received addiction treatment. "We are concerned because treatment rates are this low despite the availability of effective interventions," said NIDA Director Nora Volkow.

The research was published in the May 2007 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.