NCJ Number
204904
Date Published
January 2004
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This document reports findings on drug abuse in the St. Louis (Missouri) metropolitan area for 2002.
Abstract
The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) focuses on metropolitan areas to reveal emerging drug problems before they become widespread. DAWN detects new drugs, new drug combinations, new health consequences of drug use, and changing patterns involving old drugs. Communities can use this information to plan, target resources, and act more effectively. Of the 949,000 visits to St. Louis area emergency departments (ED's) in 2002, about 1 percent (9,641) were related to drug abuse. The most common drugs involved in these ED visits were cocaine, marijuana, alcohol in combination with other drugs, benzodiazepines, and narcotic analgesics (pain relievers). From 2000 to 2002, mentions of pain relievers doubled in drug abuse-related ED visits in St. Louis (from 34 to 68 per 100,000 population). Hydrocodone, propoxyphene, and oxycodone were the most frequently named pain relievers. The rate of cocaine-related ED visits rose 91 percent. Over the same period of time, the national rate rose only 33 percent. Marijuana-related ED visits rose 232 percent between 1995 and 2002. Marijuana was reported in 30 percent of all drug abuse-related ED visits, usually in combination with other drugs. Mentions of benzodiazepines were almost double the national rate in 2002. Alprazolam, diazepam, and lorazepam were the most frequently named benzodiazepines. Among the 21 DAWN areas, St. Louis ranked in the top 5 in ED visits involving marijuana.