Annual Data 1983: Data From the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)

• NCJ Number: 235446
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 254 pages
• Contract Number(s): 271-83-7205
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Corporate Author: CSR Incorporated
• Sale Source: SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Drug Abuse Warning Network Series I, Number 3

Annotation

This statistical report presents annual data on emergency room drug-abuse related episodes and drug-abuse related medical examiner cases for the year 1983, as obtained from the Drug Abuse Warning Network.

Abstract

Highlights from this report include: in 1983, 49 percent of the patients in emergency room (ER) drug-abuse related cases reported through the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) were male and 51 percent were female; 56 percent of the patients were White, 29 percent were Black, and 8 percent were Hispanic; 46 percent of the patients were aged 18 to 29 years, while 43 percent were 30 years and older; 54 percent of the episodes involved a single drug, with females accounting for the largest percent of these patients (56 percent); suicide was the primary motive in 39 percent of the episodes; and the most frequently mentioned drug was alcohol-in-combination (24 percent). In 1983, there were 2,975 drug-abuse related medical examiner cases reported to DAWN. Of these deaths, 62 percent of the decedents were male; 67 percent were White, 24 percent were Black, and 7 percent were Hispanic; 34 percent were between the ages of 18 and 29, while 64 percent were age 30 and older; and 67 percent of the episodes involved use of multiple drugs, with overdose being the primary cause of death in a majority of the cases (79 percent). This report presents annual data on ER drug-abuse related episodes and drug-abuse-related medical examiner cases for the year 1983, as reported through DAWN. Data for the report were obtained from hospitals in 26 metropolitan areas, and a sample of hospitals outside the primary metropolitan areas. DAWN is a large-scale, ongoing drug abuse collection system with several objectives: identifying substances associated with drug abuse episodes; monitoring drug abuse patterns and trends; assessing health hazards associated with drug abuse; and providing data for national, State, and local drug abuse policy and program planning. Tables and appendixes