Among adult first-time treatment admissions, an average of 15.6 years elapsed between first use of the primary substance of abuse and treatment entry.
The length of time between first use and treatment entry was longer for males than for females (16.5 vs. 13.8 years), and ranged from 13.3 years among Asian or Pacific Islander admissions to 17.4 years among American Indian/Alaska Native admissions. Non-Hispanic Black admissions had a longer length of time between first use and treatment entry than other race/ethnicities for primary cocaine abuse (17.0 vs. 14.5 years or less) and primary heroin abuse (21.1 vs. 15.2 years or less).
Male admissions had a longer time between first use and treatment entry than female admissions for primary cocaine abuse (15.7 vs. 12.6 years), primary heroin abuse (13.4 vs. 10.0 years), and stimulants (13.0 vs. 10.6 years).
Male and female adult first-time admissions reporting primary abuse of alcohol, marijuana, or prescription drugs had similar durations of use.Read Full Text (PDF)
