There is no doubt that inappropriate drug use is a national, state, and local problem. Even though drug use is substantially under-reported in surveys, more than 9% of Santa Barbara County adults surveyed admitted to abusing illegal drugs or over using prescription medications in the past year. More than 9% of parents believe that their children between the ages of 10 and 17 abused drugs within the past year.

These findings concerning substance abuse-alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs-present an unsettling and somewhat unexpected pattern of findings. By any standard, our adults and children, and the neighborhoods and communities in which they live, continue to suffer from these problems. The most recent data on drug-related deaths (1995-1997) shows Santa Barbara County is higher than the state average and higher than the Healthy People 2000 national objective for drug-related deaths with an average of 10.3 deaths per 100,000 people-or about 44 deaths per year.

Summary: Drug Use

• More than 9% of adults reported they had used illicit drugs in the past year

• About 5% of those surveyed reported at one time they thought they might have a drug problem

• About 9% of parents believe their children (age 10-17) abused drugs within the past year.