Number of Americans who used cocaine in their lifetime 2009-2021

In 2021, it was estimated that almost 41 million people in the United States had used cocaine at some point in their life. The number of people in the United States who stated they had used cocaine in the past month has fluctuated over the past decade, but some 1.8 million people reported they had used cocaine in the past month as of 2021.

Cocaine use among teens

The percentage of U.S. students in grades 8, 10, and 12 that had used cocaine in their lifetime has gradually decreased since 1999. At that time, around 7.2 percent of students stated they had used cocaine in their lifetime, while in 2021 just 1.4 percent of students said so. Perhaps unsurprisingly, perceived availability of cocaine among 12th graders has also decreased over the past couple decades, with about 17 percent of 12th graders stating cocaine was “fairly easy” or “very easy” to get in 2021, compared to almost 55 percent who reported it was easy to get in 1990. The most common illicit drugs U.S. students in grades 8, 10, and 12 reported having used in their lifetime were marijuana, inhalants, and hallucinogens such as LSD and mushrooms.

Deaths from cocaine

In 2020, there were 19,447 drug poisoning deaths involving cocaine in the United States. The number of overdose deaths involving cocaine has increased significantly over the past few years as part of the ongoing opioid epidemic. Although, it is possible to die of an overdose just from using cocaine, many overdose deaths in the U.S. that involved cocaine also involved the use of opioids. The rate of overdose deaths involving cocaine is almost three times higher among men than women, but both have seen increases in the rate of overdose death in recent years. Considering race and ethnicity, the rate of overdose deaths involving cocaine is by far highest among black, non-Hispanics and lowest among Asian/Pacific Islander, non-Hispanics.