Substance Abuse: The Nation's Number One Health Problem

This "chartbook" illustrates how substance abuse plagues the nation as its number one health problem in deaths, illnesses and disabilities. It tracks smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use over several decades, and documents early use among young people.

The chartbook, prepared by Brandeis University's Schneider Institute for Health Policy for The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is organized in four sections: The Context of Substance Abuse, Patterns of Use, Consequences of Use, and Combating the Problem. The appendix provides data on how Americans are meeting -- or not meeting -- the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2000 objectives.