• For the youngest age group (12 to 17), an estimated 1.1 million persons (4.6 percent of this population) needed treatment for an illicit drug abuse problem in 2000. Of this group, only 0.1 million people (11.4 percent of the people aged 12 to 17 years who needed treatment) received treatment, leaving an estimated treatment gap for youths of 1.0 million

• The percent of the population in 2000 who needed treatment for an illicit drug use problem was highest among persons aged 18 to 25 years (5.7 percent) and lowest among persons aged 26 and older (1.1 percent). An estimated 1.6 million persons aged 18 to 25 and 1.9 million persons aged 26 and older needed treatment for an illicit drug problem in 2000.

• Among the estimated 381,000 persons who did not receive treatment but reported that they felt they needed treatment for their drug problem in 2000, 74,000 were aged 12 to 17, 103,000 were aged 18 to 25, and 204,000 were aged 26 and older. Thus, the percentage of the treatment gap that felt they needed treatment was 7.8 percent for those aged 12 to 17, 6.9 percent for those aged 18 to 25, and 14.3 percent for those aged 26 and older.

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