The U.S. government continues to place an important emphasis on combatting drug abuse and misuse. National Prevention Week runs during the middle of May each year and this provides an annual opportunity to connect with the general public on the dangers of prescription and non-prescription drugs.
It is estimated that the U.S. has spent over a trillion dollars on the “war on drugs” since the 1970s, yet the effects of this are decidedly mixed throughout the country.
To illustrate the variations, the personal-finance website WalletHub has released a report on the States with the Biggest Drug Problems. The analysis highlights the areas that stand to be most affected by drug addictions.
This study compares the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of 20 key metrics, ranging from arrest and overdose rates to opioid prescription use and employee drug testing laws.
This reveals the top ten States with the worst drug problems to be:
1. New Mexico
2. West Virginia
3. Nevada
4. District of Columbia
5. Colorado
6. Missouri
7. Louisiana
8. Arkansas
9. Oklahoma
10. Michigan
These ten are followed by:
11. Alaska
12. Kentucky
13. Indiana
14. Tennessee
15. Wyoming
16. Mississippi
17. Vermont
18. Oregon
19. Kansas
20. Arizona
Across each of the States there some interesting variations. Alabama, for example, has 75 retail opioid pain reliever prescriptions per 100 residents, leading the nation. On the other end of the spectrum, there are 24 for every 100 Hawaii residents.
For other narcotics, West Virginia has 90.9 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents. That is eight times more than in Nebraska, which has the fewest at 11.40 per 100,000 residents.
With demographics, at the younger-end, New Mexico has the highest share of teens who used illicit drugs in the past month, at 13.7 percent. That is 2.6 times higher than in Alabama, which has the lowest at 5.2 percent. Whereas, with older people, Vermont has the highest share of adults who used illicit drugs in the past month, at 27.5 percent. That is 2.5 times higher than in Texas, which has the lowest at 10.9 percent.
