5.5 Race-Ethnicity and Illicit Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco Use

Race-Ethnicity and Illicit Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco Use

The disproportionate rates of incarceration for Blacks and Latinos convicted of drug-related crimes in the U.S. could lead people to believe these racial-ethnic groups use drugs at significantly higher rates than other racial-ethnic groups. This, however, is not the case.

In 2017, adolescent alcohol and illicit drug use disparities were observed for a number of racial-ethnic groups.

Asian American adolescents aged 12-17 years reported the lowest rate (7.4%) of using alcohol or illicit drugs within the past 30 days among racial-ethnic groups by a significant margin. Rates for adolescents in other racial-ethnic groups from highest to lowest were:

16.3% among adolescents who identify with two or more races (more than twice the lowest group rate);
15.5% among non-Hispanic White adolescents (more than twice the lowest group rate);
14.4% among American Indian or Alaska Native adolescents (94.6% higher than the lowest group rate);
12.2% among Hispanic or Latino adolescents (64.9% higher than the lowest group rate);
11.9% among non-Hispanic Black adolescents (60.8% higher than the lowest group rate); and
11.9% among Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander adolescents (60.8% higher than the lowest group rate) (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Alcohol or Illicit Drug Use Among Adolescents, 2017; Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2018).

Review the below Chart 3.5 to see a timeline of disparities in illicit drug use each month by race-ethnic minorities aged 12 or older between 2002 and 2013. The chart demonstrates that the trend in illicit drug use is higher for Black or African Americans than White counterparts, in contrast to the data from adolescents above, and that Asian Americans still tend to be the lowest users of illicit drugs in America when considering race-ethnicity. However, note that the chart below does not account for persons of two or more races (due to a small sample size), which were the highest users of illicit drugs and alcohol in adolescents above. Also note that the chart below does not consider alcohol use, but only illicit drug use.

Chart – Past Month Illicit Drug Use among Persons Aged 12 or Older by Race-Ethnicity in between 2002 and 2013

“Past Month Use of Selected Illicit Drugs among Youths Aged 12 to 17: 2002-2013” by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, Public Domain
Moderate Drinking, Binge Drinking, and Excessive Alcohol Use

As discussed in this section, moderate drinking is defined as 2 drinks or less in a day for men and 1 drink or less in a day for women, when alcohol is consumed. Drinking less is better for healthier than drinking more (Dietary Guidelines for American, 2021). Binge drinking is defined as a pattern of alcohol consumption that brings the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level to 0.08% or more. This pattern of drinking usually corresponds to 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for men or 4 or more drinks on a single occasion for women, generally within about 2 hours (CDC, Alcohol and public health, n. d.). And excessive alcohol use is defined to include binge drinking, heavy drinking, any alcohol use by people under the age of 21 minimum legal drinking age, and any alcohol use by pregnant women (CDC, Alcohol and public health, n. d.).

Rates of alcohol use, binge drinking and excessive alcohol use within the past month among adults aged 21 and older show disparities across multiple racial-ethnic groups.

Whites (60.5%) and those who identify as two or more races (60.5%) use alcohol at rates that outpace other racial-ethnic groups. Rates of alcohol use by Hispanics or Latinos (49.1%), Blacks or African Americans (48.6%), and Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders (48.7%) are followed by Asian Americans (41.4%) and American Indians or Alaska Natives (35.3%).

Rates of binge drinking alcohol in the past month were lowest among Asian adults (14.4%) by a significant margin. Rates of binge drinking in the past month reported by other racial-ethnic groups were:

31.2% among adults who identify with two or more races (more than twice the lowest group rate);
27.9% among Hispanic or Latino adults (93.8% higher than the lowest group rate);
26.5% among White adults (84.0% higher than the lowest group rate);
25.8% among Black or African American adults (79.2% higher than the lowest group rate);
22.7% among American Indian or Alaska Native adults (57.6% higher than the lowest group rate); and
22.7% among Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander adults (57.6% higher than the lowest group rate).

Rates of excessive alcohol use within the past month were also lowest among Asian American adults (2.6%) at rates significantly lower than that of other racial-ethnic groups, which ranged from 61.5% higher to over 4 times higher. Rates of excessive alcohol use within the past month for other racial-ethnic groups were:

11.3% among adults who identify with two or more races (more than 4 times the lowest group rate);
7.4% among White adults (nearly 3 times the lowest group rate);
5.5% among American Indian or Alaska Native adults (more than twice the lowest group rate);
5.1% among Hispanic or Latino adults (nearly twice the lowest group rate);
4.7% among Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander adults (80.8% higher than the lowest group rate); and
4.2% among Black or African American adults (61.5% higher than the lowest group rate) (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2020).
Tobacco Use

Rates of tobacco product use within the past month for persons aged 12 or older were lowest among Asian Americans (9.4%), whose rates of use were more than 3 times lower than racial-ethnic groups with the highest rates of use (31.3% American Indians or Alaska Natives; 29.0% two or more races ethnicities), and more than 2 times lower than Blacks or African Americans (23.5%), Whites (23.3%), and Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders (19.2%). At 1.5 times the lowest rates, Hispanics or Latinos reported the second lowest rates of current tobacco product use at 14.4% (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2020).