However, the proportion of heroin injectors decreased from 77 percent in 1992 to 68 percent in 1997, while heroin admissions for inhalation increased from 19 percent in 1992 to 28 percent in 1997. The report offered some good news about cocaine. The proportion of cocaine admissions fell from 18 percent in 1992 to 15 percent in 1997. Cocaine admissions rates were highest in the Northeast and some Southern states. This proportion has remained stable over the period 1993 to 1997.
Alcohol abuse remains the most common reason people seek treatment.
Forty-four percent of these alcohol admissions reported secondary drug use as well. Alcohol admissions are not as dominant as they once were, dropping from 59 percent in 1992 to 48 percent for 1997. This decline was driven by a decrease in admissions for abuse of alcohol alone from 37 percent in 1992 to 27 percent in 1997. The proportion of admissions for primary marijuana use more than doubled between 1992 and 1997, from 6 percent to 13 percent. Admissions were seen to spread from the Pacific States to the Midwest.