Alcohol
Alcoholism, also known as “alcohol dependence,” is a disease that includes four symptoms:

Craving: A strong need, or compulsion, to drink.
Loss of control: The inability to limit one’s drinking on any given occasion.
Physical dependence: Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety, occur when alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking.
Tolerance: The need to drink greater amounts of alcohol in order to “get high.”
People who are not alcoholic sometimes do not understand why an alcoholic can’t just “use a little willpower” to stop drinking. However, alcoholism has little to do with willpower. Alcoholics are in the grip of a powerful “craving,” or uncontrollable need, for alcohol that overrides their ability to stop drinking. This need can be as strong as the need for food or water.
Although some people are able to recover from alcoholism without help, the majority of alcoholics need assistance. With treatment and support, many individuals are able to stop drinking and rebuild their lives.
Many people wonder why some individuals can use alcohol without problems but others cannot. One important reason has to do with genetics. Scientists have found that having an alcoholic family member makes it more likely that if you choose to drink you too may develop alcoholism. Genes, however, are not the whole story. In fact, scientists now believe that certain factors in a person’s environment influence whether a person with a genetic risk for alcoholism ever develops the disease. A person’s risk for developing alcoholism can increase based on the person’s environment, including where and how he or she lives; family, friends, and culture; peer pressure; and even how easy it is to get alcohol.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2001, January 1). Alcoholism: Getting the Facts (NIH Publication No. 96–4153)[Brochure]. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved September 04, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/booklet.htm

Statistics
Almost half of Americans aged 12 or older reported being current drinkers of alcohol in the 2001 survey (48.3 percent). This translates to an estimated 109 million people. Both the rate of alcohol use and the number of drinkers increased from 2000, when 104 million, or 46.6 percent, of people aged 12 or older reported drinking in the past 30 days.
Approximately one fifth (20.5 percent) of persons aged 12 or older participated in binge drinking at least once in the 30 days prior to the survey. Although the number of current drinkers increased between 2000 and 2001, the number of those reporting binge drinking did not change significantly.
Heavy drinking was reported by 5.7 percent of the population aged 12 or older, or 12.9 million people. These 2001 estimates are similar to the 2000 estimates.
The prevalence of current alcohol use in 2001 increased with increasing age for youths, from 2.6 percent at age 12 to a peak of 67.5 percent for persons 21 years old. Unlike prevalence patterns observed for cigarettes and illicit drugs, current alcohol use remained steady among older age groups. For people aged 21 to 25 and those aged 26 to 34, the rates of current alcohol use in 2001 were 64.3 and 59.9 percent, respectively. The prevalence of alcohol use was slightly lower for persons in their 40s. Past month drinking was reported by 45.6 percent of respondents aged 60 to 64, and 33.0 percent of persons 65 or older (Figure 3.1).
The highest prevalence of both binge and heavy drinking in 2001 was for young adults aged 18 to 25, with the peak rate occurring at age 21. The rate of binge drinking was 38.7 percent for young adults and 48.2 percent at age 21. Heavy alcohol use was reported by 13.6 percent of persons aged 18 to 25, and by 17.8 percent of persons aged 21. Binge and heavy alcohol use rates decreased faster with increasing age than did rates of past month alcohol use. While 55.2 percent of the population aged 45 to 49 in 2001 were current drinkers, 19.1 percent of persons within this age range binge drank and 5.4 percent drank heavily (Figure 3.1). Binge and heavy drinking were relatively rare among people aged 65 or older, with reported rates of 5.8 and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Among youths aged 12 to 17, an estimated 17.3 percent used alcohol in the month prior to the survey interview. This rate was higher than the rate of youth alcohol use reported in 2000 (16.4 percent). Of all youths, 10.6 percent were binge drinkers, and 2.5 percent were heavy drinkers. These are roughly the same percentages as those reported in 2000 (10.4 and 2.6 percent, respectively).

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2002, September 4). Results from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Volume I. Summary of National Findings (Office of Applied Studies, NHSDA Series H-17 ed.) (BKD461, SMA 02-3758)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved September 23, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/nhsda/2k1nhsda/vol1/Chapter3.htm

General
Forty-four percent of the adult U.S. population (aged 18 and over) are current drinkers who have consumed at least 12 drinks in the preceding year (Dawson et al. 1995). Although most people who drink do so safely, the minority who consume alcohol heavily produce an impact that ripples outward to encompass their families, friends, and communities. The following statistics give a glimpse of the magnitude of problem drinking:
Approximately 14 million Americans—7.4 percent of the population —meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism (Gran et al. 1994).
More than one-half of American adults have a close family member who has or has had alcoholism ( Dawson and Grant 1998).
Approximately one in four children younger than 18 years old in the United States is exposed to alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence in the family (Grant 2000).
Alcohol consumption has consequences for the health and well - being of those who drink and, by extension, the lives of those around them.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Journal: Alcohol Research & Health: Highlights From the Tenth Special Report to Congress, Health Risks and Benefits of Alcohol Consumption (Volume 24, Number 1, 2000 ed.) Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved October 07, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh24-1/toc24-1.htm

Procedure: This chart represents the number of drinks it would take to bring your blood alcohol concentration to a particular level in one hour.

In other words, your body will burn off 1 drink per hour.
Each of the following drinks contain the same amount of alcohol:

General/Marijuana

Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant. You may hear marijuana called by street names such as pot, herb, weed, grass, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, or chronic. There are more than 200 slang terms for marijuana. Sinsemilla (sin-seh-me-yah; it's a Spanish word), hashish ("hash" for short), and hash oil are stronger forms of marijuana.

All forms of marijuana are mind-altering. In other words, they change how the brain works. They all contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana. They also contain more than 400 other chemicals. Marijuana's effects on the user depend on the strength or potency of the THC it contains.(5) THC potency of marijuana has increased since the 1970s but has been about the same since the mid-1980s.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2001, March 13). Marijuana: Facts for TeensWashington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved October 03, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.nida.nih.gov/MarijBroch/Marijteenstxt.html#What

Statistics

An estimated 2.4 million Americans used marijuana for the first time in 2000. The annual number of new marijuana users has varied considerably since 1965 when there were an estimated 0.6 million new users. The number of new marijuana users reached a peak in 1976 and 1977 at around 3.2 million. Between 1990 and 1996, the estimated number of new users increased from 1.4 million to 2.5 million and has remained at this level.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2002, September 4). Results from the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Volume I. Summary of National Findings (Office of Applied Studies, NHSDA Series H-17 ed.) (BKD461, SMA 02-3758)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved September 26, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/nhsda/2k1nhsda/vol1/highlights.htm

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. It is used by 76 percent of current illicit drug users. Approximately 59 percent of current illicit drug users consumed only marijuana, 17 percent used marijuana and another illicit drug, and the remaining 24 percent used an illicit drug but not marijuana in the past month. Therefore, about 41 percent of current illicit drug users in 2000 (an estimated 5.7 million Americans) use illicit drugs other than marijuana and hashish, with or without using marijuana as well.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2002, February 14). Summary of Findings from the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (Office of Applied Studies, NHSDA Series H-13 ed.) ( (SMA) 01-3549)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved September 26, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/nhsda/2knhsda/chapter2.htm

Statistics/Opiates

Concern about the abuse of prescription painkillers has risen dramatically in the U.S. Of particular concern is the abuse of pain medications containing opiates (also known as narcotic analgesics), marketed under such brand names as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet, Demerol, and Darvon. According to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), the incidence of emergency department (ED) visits related to narcotic analgesic abuse has been increasing in the U.S. since the mid-1990s, and more than doubled between 1994 and 2001.

In 2001, there were an estimated 90,232 ED visits related to narcotic analgesic abuse, a 117 percent increase since 1994.
Nationally, narcotic analgesics were involved in 14 percent of all drug abuse-related ED visits in 2001.
In 2001, approximately one-third of the narcotic analgesics reported to DAWN were not specified by name (32,196 mentions). Among the named narcotic analgesics, hydrocodone led with 21,567 mentions, followed by oxycodone (18,409 mentions).
Oxycodone mentions increased 70 percent from 2000 to 2001, compared to the 186 percent surge in mentions from 1999 to 2000. However, mentions of most narcotic analgesics did not increase from 2000 to 2001.
From 1994 to 2001, the only narcotic analgesic that declined was codeine. Mentions decreased 61 percent, from 9,439 to 3,720.
Dependence was the most frequently mentioned motive for narcotic analgesic abuse cases (38,941), followed by suicide (24,576), psychic effects (13,949), unknown motive (11,039), and other motives (1,727).
In 2001, the average age was 37 for patients who attended the ED because of narcotic analgesic abuse.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Service. Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2003, January 1). The DAWN Report: Narcotic Analgesics (January 2003 ed.) (): . Retrieved January 17, 2003 from the World Wide Web:http://www.dawninfo.net/pdf/pub/ShortRpts/DAWN%20Report%20NA_10.pdf

General/Cocaine

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Cocaine has been labeled the drug of the 1980s and '90s, because of its extensive popularity and use during this period. However, cocaine is not a new drug. In fact, it is one of the oldest known drugs. The pure chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, has been an abused substance for more than 100 years, and coca leaves, the source of cocaine, have been ingested for thousands of years.

Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaf of the Erythroxylon coca bush, which grows primarily in Peru and Bolivia, in the mid-19th century. In the early 1900s, it became the main stimulant drug used in most of the tonics/elixirs that were developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses. Today, cocaine is a Schedule II drug, meaning that it has high potential for abuse, but can be administered by a doctor for legitimate medical uses, such as a local anesthetic for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.

There are basically two chemical forms of cocaine: the hydrochloride salt and the "freebase." The hydrochloride salt, or powdered form of cocaine, dissolves in water and, when abused, can be taken intravenously (by vein) or intranasally (in the nose). Freebase refers to a compound that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. The freebase form of cocaine is smokable.

Cocaine is generally sold on the street as a fine, white, crystalline powder, known as "coke," "C," "snow," "flake," or "blow." Street dealers generally dilute it with such inert substances as cornstarch, talcum powder, and/or sugar, or with such active drugs as procaine (a chemically-related local anesthetic) or with such other stimulants as amphetamines.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2002, February 18). NIDA Research Report - Cocaine Abuse and Addiction (PHD813, NIH Publication No. 99-4342)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved October 03, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Cocaine/cocaine2.html#what

Statistics

Beginning in 1965, the estimated incidence of cocaine use rose steadily to its 1983 peak (1.5 million new users). Subsequently, the number of new users per year declined steadily until 1992 (0.5 million new users) and then began a steady increase to 0.9 million new users in 2000.
Age-specific incidence rates generally have mirrored the overall incidence rate. The number of new users aged 18 to 25 reached a peak of 0.9 million in 1983, while the most recent low point for this group was 0.3 million from 1991 to 1994. Incidence among 12 to 17 year olds has not varied as greatly over the years, but peaked in 1980 at 0.3 million new users and reached a recent low point in 1991 with 90,000 new users.
The 2000 estimates of the number of cocaine initiates and age-specific incidence rates were slightly larger than their 1999 counterparts, but none of the increases was statistically significant.
The average age of cocaine initiates rose from 17.2 years in 1967 to 23.8 years in 1991 and subsequently declined to approximately 20 years from 1997 to 2000.
The annual number of new cocaine users has generally increased over time. In 1975, there were 30,000 new users. The number increased from 300,000 in 1986 to 361,000 in 2000.

General/Crack

Crack is the street name given to the freebase form of cocaine that has been processed from the powdered cocaine hydrochloride form to a smokable substance. The term "crack" refers to the crackling sound heard when the mixture is smoked. Crack cocaine is processed with ammonia or sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and water, and heated to remove the hydrochloride.

Because crack is smoked, the user experiences a high in less than 10 seconds. This rather immediate and euphoric effect is one of the reasons that crack became enormously popular in the mid 1980s. Another reason is that crack is inexpensive both to produce and to buy.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2002, February 21). NIDA Research Report - Cocaine Abuse and Addiction (PHD813, NIH Publication No. 99-4342)Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved October 03, 2002 from the World Wide Web:http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Cocaine/cocaine2.html#crack

Statistics/Crack

In 2001, an estimated 1.7 million (0.7 percent) of Americans aged 12 or older were current cocaine users and 406,000 (0.2 percent) were current crack users.

Locate the line that corresponds to your body weight.
From left to right, each square represents one drink.
The first color change to the right indicates an alcohol concentration of .04 (indicating impairment).
The second color change to the right indicates an alcohol concentration of .10 (legal intoxication in most states).

To calculate concentration during a longer period of time:

Add the total amount of drinks consumed.
From that total, subtract 1 drink for each hour of drinking.