The reports, in various formats, are based on 2005-2006 national surveys on drug use and health and constitute the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies, State Estimates of Substance Use from the 2005-2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. OAS Series #H-33, DHHS Publication No. (SMA) 08-4311, Rockville, MD, 2008.

Some highlights:

The report is based on 136,110 people aged 12 and older who were interviewed for a national survey in 2005-2006.

Illicit Drugs
North Dakota had the lowest percentage of people who reported using an illicit drug during the previous month (5.7%). Rhode Island had the highest percentage (11.2%).

Marijuana use was reported by 10.4% of participants in 2005-2006. Vermont had the highest rate of marijuana use in the past month (9.7%). Utah had the lowest rate (4.3%).

Cocaine use was reported by 2.4% of participants in 2005-2006. Cocaine rates were highest in Washington, D.C. (4.9%) and lowest in North Dakota (1.6%).

Nonprescription use of painkillers was reported by 5% of participants, up from 4.8% in 2004-2005.

About 2.8% of participants were dependent on or had abused illicit drugs in the past year, the report shows.

Tobacco
About 30% of participants said they had used tobacco during the previous month. And 25% said they had smoked cigarettes during the previous month.

West Virginia had the highest rate of past-month tobacco use (40.6%) and cigarette use (32.5%). Utah had the lowest rate of past-month tobacco use (22.1%) and cigarette use (19.3%).

Among youths, 10.6% reported smoking cigarettes in the previous month, down from 11.3% in 2004-2005.

Alcohol
Utah residents were the least likely to report drinking alcohol in the past month (32.4%). That’s nearly half of Wisconsin’s rate (63.1%).

Nationwide, binge drinking was most commonly reported by young adults aged 18-25. But binge drinking rates dropped among youths aged 12-17, compared to the previous year’s data.

Underage drinking among people aged 12-20 was rarest in Utah (21.5%) and most common in Vermont (38.3%).

Nationwide, 7.7% of people age 12 or older abused or were dependent on alcohol.

Depression, Psychological Distress
Depression rates were lower in 2005-2006 than in 2004-2005, according to the report.

Among adults, 7.3% experienced an episode of major depression in 2005-2006, down from 7.7% the year before.

Major depression struck 8.4% of youths aged 12-17 in 2005-2006, down from 8.9% the year before.

Nevada had the highest rate; 9.4% of adults were depressed. Hawaii had the lowest adult depression rate (5%).

Overall, 11.3% of U.S. adults had serious psychological distress in 2005-2006. Utah had the highest rate (14.4%) and Hawaii had the lowest rate (8.8%) of adults with serious psychological distress.