Prescription Drug Use and Misuse in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

This report presents findings from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) on the use and misuse of prescription psychotherapeutic drugs (i.e., pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives) in the past year for the population aged 12 or older in the United States. The report presents additional findings that are relevant to the misuse of prescription drugs, such as motivations for misuse and where individuals obtained the last prescription drugs that they misused. The report also will discuss the redesign of the prescription drug questions for 2015, the new definition for misuse, and relevant terminology issues (e.g., "misuse" rather than "nonmedical use"). Estimates for selected outcomes are presented by age, gender, race, Hispanic origin, and county type.