The U.S. has recently held a National Prevention Week, aimed at trying to address the nation’s concerns with drug addiction (focusing upon the prevention of substance use and the promotion of mental health). This is important in the context of prescription drug overdose deaths for 2020 being up 24 percent compared with the previous year.
To assess the extent of the problem, the personal-finance website WalletHub has produced a report looking at the U.S. States with the biggest drug problems. This study compares the 50 states and the District in terms of 21 key metrics.
The types of factors considered include drug arrest rates and overdose levels. Also assessed are opioid prescriptions and employee drug testing laws. Perhaps of biggest concern is prescription drug abuse, which refers to the use of a prescription medication in a way not intended by the prescribing doctor.
As well as associated health issues, it remains illegal to use prescription drugs without a valid prescription or to distribute them.
From these metrics, the States with the greatest drug problems are:
1. District of Columbia
2. West Virginia
3. Missouri
4. Colorado
5. New Mexico
6. Nevada
7. Delaware
8. Michigan
9. Indiana
10. Kentucky
Within the list of 50 States, there are some interesting variations. For example, Alabama has 86 retail opioid pain reliever prescriptions per 100 residents. This is the highest level in the U.S. In contrast, is Hawaii, with just 30 for every 100 citizens.
With overdoses, West Virginia has 53 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents, unenviably the highest in the country. This stands at six times more than in Nebraska, which has the fewest at 9 per 100,000 residents.
Focusing on young people, Vermont has the highest share of teens who used illicit drugs a given month, at 14 percent. This stands at 2.3 times higher than in Utah, which has the lowest at 6 percent.
Moving to older people, Vermont has the highest share of adults who used illicit drugs in a month, at 22 percent. This proportion stands at three times higher than in South Dakota, which has the lowest level at 8 percent.
