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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Jul 12.
Published in final edited form as: J Drug Issues. 2009;39(3):677–714. doi: 10.1177/002204260903900310

Table 2.

Past 12-Month Drug Use Prevalence Rates among Seniors Averaged across 1976–2005

(Table entries are percentages reporting use of the indicated drug)

Drug Total Male Female African American Hispanic White
 Alcohol 80.5 81.9 79.1 63.9 75.7 83.3
 Marijuana or hashish 37.5 41.1 34.1 28.6 31.9 39.3
 Amphetamines 10.6 10.0 11.2 2.7 6.3 12.2
 Cocaine 7.3 8.8 5.9 2.9 6.6 8.0
 LSD 5.5 6.9 4.2 0.8 4.5 6.3
 Narcotics other than heroin 4.9 5.1 4.6 1.2 2.4 5.6
 Tranquilizers 4.8 4.5 5.2 1.2 2.8 5.6
 Barbiturates 3.7 3.9 3.5 1.2 2.3 4.2
 Heroin 0.5 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.9 0.5

Note: Ns range as follows: Total 72,022–73,152; Male 34,515–35,094; Female 37,422–38,058; African American 8,662–9,050; Hispanic 5,102–5,236; White 58,059–58,866.