State-by-State Drug Use (Or, Rhode Island Needs More Rehab)
By Catherine Rampell
A reader recently referred me to this May 2009 report on drug use by state, put out by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of Department of Health and Human Services.
It’s full of interesting statistics. Below is a set of maps I put together on use of various kinds of drugs across the country. Click the drop-down menu to see cocaine, marijuana, alcohol or other kinds of drug use in each state:
Interactive maps, with drugs uses state by state.
Some highlights, all based on the 2006 and 2007 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health’s data on people age 12 or older:
- Across the United States, 8.1 percent of people had used an illicit drug in the last month. Illicit drug use was lowest in Iowa (5.2 percent in the last month) and highest in Rhode Island (12.5 percent). (Here “illicit drugs” includes “marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, or prescription-type psychotherapeutics used nonmedically.”)
- Nationwide, 10.2 percent reported marijuana use in the last year. Once again, Iowa had the lowest rate of marijuana use (3.8 percent) in the last month, and Rhode Island had the highest rate (10.3 percent).
- The percentage of people who used illicit drugs besides marijuana in the last month was 3.8 percent. Rates were lowest in Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota (2.6 percent). They were highest in Arizona and Rhode Island (5.5 percent).
- The national rate of people age 12 and over who used cocaine in the last year was 2.4 percent. The District of Columbia had the highest rate of cocaine use (5.1 percent) in the last year; Mississippi had the lowest rate (1.6 percent).
- Just over half of respondents said they used alcohol in the last month (51 percent). Perhaps not surprisingly, given its heavily Mormon population, Utah had the lowest alcohol use rate (30.9). Drinking behavior was most common in Rhode Island (63.1 percent).
13-08-2009, 00:27
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