Cocaine Use Down, Marijuana Use on the Rise

A recent report shows that cocaine use has dropped significantly in the United States from 2006 to 2010, yet the amount of marijuana used rose during the same period.

In fact, findings showed that marijuana drug use increased by 30 percent from 2006 to 2010 while cocaine consumption fell by half that. Methamphetamine consumption also dramatically increased during the first half of the decade and then declined.

"Having credible estimates of the number of heavy drug users and how much they spend is critical for evaluating policies, making decisions about treatment funding and understanding the drug revenues going to criminal organizations," said Beau Kilmer, the study's lead author and co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, via a press release. "This work synthesizes information from many sources to present the best estimates to date for illicit drug consumption and spending in the United States."

As the project only generated estimates through 2010, researchers believe that the report does not specifically address spikes in both heroin use or the consequences of marijuana legalization in both Colorado and Washington. It also does not explain the causes behind changes in drug use or the evaluation of effectiveness from the drug control strategies, according to background information from the study.

Based on the website of the Office of the National Drug Control Policy, estimates reveal $100 billion annually spent on cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine use throughout the decade. While more of this money was initially spent on cocaine than marijuana in 2000, the opposite occurred by 2010.

"Our analysis shows that Americans likely spent more than one trillion dollars on cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine between 2000 and 2010," Kilmer said, via the release.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that the marijuana surge may be due to a number of users who reportedly use the drug on a daily or near-daily basis.

However, as much of this information was based on information from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program, or ADAM-final estimates may change with time as the federal government recently halted funding for the program.

"The ADAM program provided unique insights about those who abused hard drugs and how much they spent on these substances," said Jonathan Caulkins, a study co-author and the Stever Professor of Operations Research and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. "It's a tragedy that 2013 was the last year for ADAM. It is such an important data system for understanding drug problems."

Researchers said that they hope to improve future estimates, including programs such as ADAM that collect detailed data from heavy users, along with revisions of federal agencies questioning and exit self-reporting surveys.

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More information regarding the report came from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy by researchers affiliated with the RAND Drug Policy Research Center.