Among drugs that showed almost no change in 2005 were cocaine, crack, and heroin. The annual prevalence rate for powder cocaine is 1.7%in the eighth grade, 3% in tenth grade, and 4.5% in twelfth grade. Crystal methamphetamine prevalence is 2.3% in twelfth graders. Heroin use peaked in 2001and is now slightly below 1% in all three grades. Narcotics other than heroin is reported only for the twelfth grade with the annual prevalence rate at 9%. Vicodin and Oxycontin are the most common.
Alcohol and cigarettes are the most common substances youth use. Half of American youth have tried cigarettes by the twelfth grade, and 23% are current smokers. By the eighth grade, 26% have tried cigarettes, and 1 in 11 has become a current smoker. Cigarette use reached its peak in 1996. Declines in smoking among this age-group seem to have leveled; no significant declines occurred in 2005.
Seventy-five percent of high school seniors have tried alcohol (more than just a few sips), and 41% have done so by the eighth grade. More than half (58%) of seniors and 20% of eighth graders reported being drunk at least once, which cause concern given the fact that alcohol disorders develop faster when drinking begins early.