STATISTICS & TRENDS

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Club Drugs Show Rising Usage Across the United States

Not all mind-altering substances receive equal attention from the media, policymakers, and public health officials. But any drug has the potential to harm the user, hence the importance of understanding usage trends and statistics for all drugs. This article...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Teen Overdoses at All-Time High, Parents Must Act

Preserving the health and safety of teens is priority #1 for parents. Every parent wants their sons and daughters to grow up to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. With that in mind, it is extremely worrisome that teen drug overdose deaths have more than...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Does Removing Criminal Penalties for Drug Use Lead to More Drug Use?

Does it really make sense to blanket legalize drugs? On the other hand, does it really make sense to continue the War on Drugs? Or is it possible that leaving some penalties in place but altering or lessening them if treatment is completed might be more...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Driven by Fentanyl, Teenage Drug Overdoses Doubled

Teens are less likely to use drugs now than they were in previous years, but they are significantly more likely to die from an overdose when they do use drugs. Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is almost entirely to blame for the deaths.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Study Finds Cannabis Manufacturers are Marketing Products to Young Audience

In the late 20th century, tobacco and alcohol companies were caught using marketing techniques to advertise their products to young people. Today, it would appear that cannabis companies are attempting similar strategies to widen their customer base to...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Missteps in Oregon Decriminalization Illustrate Need for Additional Addiction Treatment Resources

Drug decriminalization and legalization are two hotly debated issues in the United States. While criminal prosecution and stigma serve as a barrier to treatment for many, liberal possession laws with few penalties for continued use do little to end the...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Further Consequences of Drug Addiction Emerge

It is no mystery that opioid addiction is harmful to users’ health. As America’s opioid epidemic advances and claims more lives, disturbing links between addiction and heart attacks are being uncovered.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Drunk and High, The Worst Combination Possible for Getting Behind the Wheel

In the field of substance abuse, three connected factors are setting the stage for serious harm on America’s roads.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Addiction in America

Addiction is such a pervasive problem in America that one in eight Americans suffer from this problem. Grasping the extent of the problem is a vital first step to resolving it successfully.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Tracing A Network of Crime: How Pharma Distributors Acted as the Middlemen in the Opioid Epidemic

In the now two-decade-long opioid epidemic in the U.S., pharmaceutical opioid manufacturers, pharmacies, and doctors have all come under fire for the role they played in the surge of opioid addiction and death. One group, previously unnoticed and only...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Oregon’s Big Drug Decriminalization Gamble

Oregon decriminalized personal-use quantities of drugs in 2020 with the intention that this new law would help drug users go to rehab rather than jail. This has turned out to be a big gamble that the State was possibly not ready for.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Fentanyl Is Now the Leading Cause of Death for Adults Ages 18 to 45

One of the findings in the CDC’s 2020 Cause of Death report was that overdose deaths caused by fentanyl were the leading cause of death for adults ages 18 to 45. At first, this key fact went almost unnoticed. Only now is this critical issue getting the...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Scotland’s Drug Problem Then and Now

Headline after headline has broken with the news that Scotland is in the midst of the worst drug problem in Europe with the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the region. And while this public health crisis is certainly newsworthy, some key details...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

The State of Teen Drug Use: What Are the Real Numbers?

Are our children using more drugs or less these days? How about drinking and binge drinking? Actually, quite a bit of the information is positive.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Alcohol’s “New Normal”

Our world has changed in the last few years, and along with those changes, patterns of alcohol consumption have shifted. But that shift may not be the one you expect.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Marijuana-Related Traffic Accidents

Most of the focus regarding impaired driving goes to drunk driving. But what about drugged driving? More specifically, what about marijuana-impaired driving? This is a growing problem across America.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

One State’s Discovery Reveals the Demographic Hit Hardest by Opioid Addiction

A recent Massachusetts study sought to determine which demographics have been hit hardest by the opioid crisis. As it turns out, mainly working-class, blue-collar residents in construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting, and industrial jobs have...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Washington State Takes Big Pharma to Trial

In a rare turn of events, Washington State has decided to move away from proposed settlements with pharma giants and instead take several corporations to trial for the role they played in creating the opioid epidemic.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Does Drug Use Effect Sleep?

For those who want to sleep better, the science is quite clear: It’s smart to avoid the use of illicit drugs or the misuse of prescription drugs.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

A First-Hand Account of The Empire of Pain

For anyone touched by America’s opioid epidemic and anyone who has followed the development of this crisis, as I have, Patrick Radden Keefe’s new book adds to our knowledge of the steps that must be taken to heal from our crisis of drugs abuse and...