Preliminary Estimates From the Drug Abuse Warning Network

• NCJ Number: 153635
• Author(s): L McCaig
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 100 pages
• Corporate Author: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin (SAMHSA)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin (SAMHSA)
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC. Advanced Report No. 8

Annotation

This report presents results from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) survey on the estimated number of episodes in which a hospital emergency department visit was directly related to the use of an illegal drug or nonmedical use of a legal drug.

Abstract

The 1993 estimates of total drug-related hospital emergency room visits continued an upward trend, begun in 1991. During the reporting period, there were an estimated 466,900 drug-related hospital emergency room episodes, representing an increase of 8 percent from 1992 figures. Approximately 45 percent of the increase between 1992 and 1993 was attributed to an increase in heroin use. Suicide attempt or gesture was cited as the cause in 184,000 (39 percent) of the episodes and was the most commonly reported motive for taking a substance. The most frequently recorded reason for a drug-related emergency room visit was overdose. 4 appendixes