Emergency department mentions of narcotic pain medications rose from 99,317 in 2001 to 119,185 in 2002. The rise from 2000 to 2002 was 45 percent.
The 2002 DAWN estimates 670,307 drug-abuse-related hospital emergency department visits in the continental United States in 2002, about the same as drug-abuse-related visits in 2001.
In DAWN a single drug abuse visit may include multiple drugs as many persons are poly-drug users. On average, each visit involved 1.8 drug "mentions." DAWN measures mentions of specific illicit, prescription and over-the-counter drugs that are linked to drug abuse in visits to hospital emergency departments.
"We must educate the public about the dangers of misuse of prescription medications," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "We must continue to strengthen our prevention programs and build substance abuse treatment capacity so that people don’t abuse drugs and tax the medical and economic resources of our emergency departments."
The new DAWN data show that emergency department mentions of marijuana increased 24 percent from 2000 to 2002. This is especially noteworthy because in the past marijuana was frequently reported along with other drugs. Now, the number of visits for only marijuana rose 45 percent from 2000 to 2002.
"This report proves that marijuana is more harmful than many people think," said White House Director of National Drug Control Policy John Walters. "The rising levels of marijuana potency that we’ve seen over the last several years correspond with dramatic increases in people seeking emergency medical care for marijuana-related incidents. But the huge decline in LSD mentions serves as a lesson that when we push back against a drug problem with a balanced supply and demand-reduction strategy, we save lives."
"One life corrupted by drug use is one too many. Effective prevention and treatment programs are key to helping reduce the needless waste of health, justice and economic resources that results from abuse of drugs," said SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie. "We are working with states and local drug treatment providers to build treatment capacity. SAMHSA expects that President Bush’s new Access to Recovery program to provide for treatment will be key to those efforts."
There was a dramatic 84 percent decline in mentions of LSD from 1995-2002, but there was a resurgence in visits involving PCP, particularly in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. The two most frequently mentioned substances, alcohol in combination with other drugs, and cocaine, were stable; and the rapid growth seen previously for emergency department visits involving Ecstasy and GHB has waned.
DAWN relies on a sample of hospital emergency departments chosen to represent hospitals nationally and in 21 metropolitan areas. In 2002, 437 hospitals participated in DAWN.
The six most frequently mentioned drugs of abuse in the 2002 DAWN were alcohol in combination with another drug, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, anti-anxiety drugs (benzodiazipines) and narcotic pain killers. Together they accounted for 7 out of every 10 drug mentions in drug abuse-related emergency room visits in 2002.
The Drug Abuse Warning Network estimates there were significant increases in emergency room visits related to drug abuse in three of the 21 metropolitan areas surveyed in DAWN, New Orleans, Buffalo, and Baltimore. Significant decreases in drug abuse visits were found in Dallas and San Diego.
The full report is available online.
Source: SAMSHA News Release
