Substance abuse statistics in the United States paint a sobering picture. Millions are addicted to substances. Millions more have a loved one suffering from addiction. As a result, there aren’t very many people who live their lives completely untouched by substance abuse.
The United States federal government relies on surveys of the population to determine the state of substance abuse in the USA. Read on below to browse a few samples of data available on this ever-changing topic.
The conventional wisdom is that teenagers are using drugs younger and younger. People often believe that the rates of addiction to drugs are skyrocketing, with each generation more addicted than the last.
Contrarily, the reality of the situation is a little more nuanced. In some areas, teenage drug use is going down. For example, according to data collected by the Monitoring The Future survey, lifetime use of prescription drugs in 12th graders dropped by almost four percent to 14.6% between the years of 2016 and 2019.
Additionally, the use of most tobacco products and nicotine fell, with one exception. The use of vaping products by teenagers increased substantially between 2016 and 2019. Prescription opioid use and alcohol use amongst teens also declined significantly between those years.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdose deaths involving opioids reached 67.8% of all overdose deaths in 2017. The overall rates of death due to overdose were shockingly high in some states, reaching a total of 57.8 deaths for every 100,000 people in West Virginia.
Other states felt the pain of an increase in drug overdose deaths, including:
And those are just a non-representative sample of the total. All told, 23 states recorded an overall increase in overdose deaths in 2017.
The states hit hardest by the opioid problem in 2017 were West Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, and Utah. The widespread availability of prescription narcotics and the powerful drug fentanyl were likely to blame.
Alcohol takes its own toll on the American population every year. Excluding accidents and violent crime (to which alcohol contributes significantly), there were 72,558 alcohol-related deaths in 2017 in the United States. Of these, 22,245 were caused by alcohol-induced liver disease.
Substance abuse statistics tell a mixed story. While some areas of abuse seem to be improving, others remain stubbornly high. Some kinds of substance abuse are even on the rise, especially amongst the older population.
At the San Antonio Recovery Center, we help adults of all ages recover from serious substance abuse. We offer comprehensive and affordable treatment that we personalize for each individual who walks through our doors. As a result, we provide many programs and treatments, including:
Do you hope to avoid becoming one of many substance abuse statistics? Please call us at 866.957.7885 to find out what your options are as you seek out a better life for you or your loved one.
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