35% Of Individuals With Autism Report Using Recreational Drugs

About 35.4% of individuals with autism age 16 and older reported using recreational drugs, compared to 52.7% of those without autism. Those with autism who reported using recreational drugs were 8.9 times more likely, compared to those without autism, to say they used the drugs to manage behavior. Those with autism were 3.08 times more likely to report using recreational drugs to manage mental health symptoms.

Individuals with autism were less likely to report regularly consuming alcohol (three or more days per week), at 16.0% compared to 22.2% of those without autism. Individuals with . . .