Massachusetts Drug Statistics and Facts

• According to the Treatment Episode Data Set information, there were a total of 87,754 admissions to Massachusetts alcohol and drug treatment facilities in 2010.
• The majority of the admissions (87,754), were for Heroin abuse. More than half of the persons admitted to Massachusetts treatment facilities were men at 69.2 percent and 30.8 percent were women.
• Only 25 percent of Massachusetts alcohol and drug addiction treatment programs offer detox of some kind. A medically supervised detoxification is highly advised to be followed immediately by a medically supervised alcohol and drug rehabilitation program.
• Alcohol abuse was the 2nd most commonly abused substance for addiction treatment admissions, in Massachusetts, followed by abuse of alcohol combined with a secondary drug.
• About a quarter of the people admitted to Massachusetts alcohol rehab programs, in 2010, it was stated that alcohol was their main substance and an additional 13.6 percent claimed their primary substance was alcohol and another drug.
• In Massachusetts, 21,624 people were admitted for alcoholism with another 11,921 people using alcohol as their primary drug mixed with a secondary substance.
• Underage drinking cost Massachusetts $1.5 billion, in 2007 according to a report emitted by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation with funding from Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2009.
• Cocaine is high on the list of main drugs of abuse, in Massachusetts, with 2,269 people admitted for Cocaine addiction through smoking with an additional 1,623 people abusing Cocaine through other forms of ingestion.
• Purity and price levels of Cocaine on the wholesale and street levels remain stable. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Colombian and Dominican traffickers are the leading distributors of Cocaine in the state of Massachusetts.
• The largest single age group suffering from Heroin addiction, in Massachusetts, is 26 to 30 year olds, of which 80 percent are White. The majority of the people who entered drug treatment did so for Heroin abuse accounting for 35,593 admissions.
• In Massachusetts, there were 3,840 people admitted into drug rehabilitation for Marijuana treatment in 2010.
• Illegal drinking among adolescents combined with Marijuana use continues to be a popular substance to abuse, in Massachusetts.
• Marijuana is readily available throughout Massachusetts. Most commercially sold Marijuana in Massachusetts originated, in Mexico or the Southwest United States, while Marijuana from Jamaica and Colombia has also been encountered.
• The growing numbers in Massachusetts for abuse and misuse of prescription drugs reflects that of the rest of the nation. That includes using prescription drugs for recreational purposes and overusing prescribed drugs.
• There were 5,658 individuals admitted for treatment of other opiates besides Heroin. The most commonly abused prescription drugs in Massachusetts are Oxycodone, Vicodin, and Methadone.
• 1,003 persons died, in Massachusetts, as a consequence of drug use compared to 450 persons who died as a result of car accidents and another 235 who died from firearms, in 2007.
• In 2007, there were 20,626 drug abuse violations in Massachusetts, over 10 percent of these were by adolescents. Massachusetts ranks among the top 18 states for drug-induced deaths.
• In Massachusetts, there were 11,746 arrests for driving under the influence, in 2007, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and, there were 334 alcohol related traffic fatalities in 2009.
• Around 68,000 (13.3%) of adolescents in Massachusetts used an illicit drug in the past month; 54,000 (10.6%) used Marijuana, and 26,000 (5.1%) used an illicit drug other than Marijuana.
• In Massachusetts, 18,000 adolescent males and 20,000 adolescent females used pain relievers nonmedically in the 12 months prior to the interview, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2003-2006 report.