Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Above 12 Years of Age Suffering From Substance Use Disorder: Report
Millions of Americans are suffering from substance use disorders and mental health issues related to alcoholism and drug usage, according to a recent survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Race-wise, Asians were found to have the lowest SUD over the past year while American Indians or Alaska Natives had the highest rate. The survey tracked SUDs in multiple categories—tobacco, nicotine vaping, alcohol, illicit drug use, and fentanyl misuse.
The report also found widespread mental health issues among Americans:
- Among adults aged 18 and above, 15.4 million people were classified as having serious mental illness (SMI) in the past year.
- Among adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age, 19.5 percent (4.8 million) had a past-year major depressive episode (MDE). In this demographic, 3.4 million had serious thoughts of suicide, 1.7 million made suicide plans, and around 953,000 attempted suicide over the past year.
- Almost half of young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 were estimated to either have any mental illness (AMI) or substance use disorder.
“This year’s report shows that millions of Americans, of all ages, continue to face mental health & substance use challenges–sometimes both at once,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a Nov. 14 X post.
“This important work better situates policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and the general public to understand the collective behavioral health needs across the country and anticipate the needs of future generations.”
Funding Calls, Biden Criticism
White House Drug Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta used the NSDUH report to call for more funding to fight the substance abuse problem.
“This is not a red state or a blue state issue: as the data shows, there are tens of millions of Americans in every state across the country affected by this public health crisis.”
President Biden has requested $1.55 billion to strengthen substance use disorder services and $1.2 billion to crack down on drug trafficking.
However, the Biden administration has been criticized by Republican lawmakers for worsening the drug problem through its lax border policies.
“We are probably putting somewhere around $18 billion in the pockets of some of the most evil people on the planet” due to the administration’s border rules, he said.
During a press conference at the border wall located within the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Tucson Sector in Cochise County, Arizona, Mr. McCarthy blamed Biden’s failed border policies for enabling the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel to grow and prosper.
As a result, thousands of illegal aliens are being sent across the border, dressed up in camouflage, carrying backpacks with fentanyl, he said.
“Why has this region gone from 66,000 people coming across to 250,000? Why does everybody wear camouflage outfits and rugs on their feet [to avoid detection]? Why are we catching so much fentanyl? The only thing that’s changed was the administration and the administration policies,” Mr. McCarthy stated.
“Why is that happening? On the day President Biden was sworn in—when you look at the gaps in the wall—why are they there? Why are these lights not working? Because we’ve got a new president [who] said to stop it. We paid for the metal to go up, but it’s stored far away.”
Widespread Substance Use
According to the NSDUH report, the total number of people (aged 12 and above) who were estimated to have used tobacco, nicotine vaping, alcohol, or an illicit drug in the past month was 168.7 million, pointing to widespread substance use among the American population.
The vast majority of these people—137.4 million—drank alcohol. While 50.9 million people used tobacco products, 23.5 million vaped nicotine, and 46.6 million used an illicit drug.
Many people who used these substances and suffered from SUD refused to seek treatment:
- In the 12-17 year old demographic, there were 1.8 million individuals with SUD who did not receive treatment in the past year. Out of this, roughly 1.7 million either did not seek treatment or thought they should not get it. Only around 8,000 sought treatment.
- Among those aged 18 and above who had SUD in the past year, only about 313,000 sought treatment.
A significant proportion of individuals with substance use disorders experienced a “severe” form of the condition.
One in five cases among the 29.5 million people with an alcohol disorder was classified as a “severe disorder.” Within the 19 million individuals who had marijuana use disorder, “severe disorder” plagued 17.3 percent.
Source: Epoch Times
Please Donate Below To Support Our Ongoing Work To Expose The Lies About Covid 19
PRINCIPIA SCIENTIFIC INTERNATIONAL, legally registered in the UK as a company 
incorporated for charitable purposes. Head Office: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX.
Trackback from your site.
Tom
| #
Most of these drugs are designed to keep the user captured.
Reply