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Iowa Drug Statistics and Facts

  • Between 2000 and 2009, the number of Opioid overdose deaths in Iowa rose from 3 to 40, or 1,233%.
  • According to the Substance Abuse Treatment Episode Data Set, in Iowa 27,843 people entered treatment for both drug and alcohol addiction treatment in 2009. 68.6 percent of that number were males and 31.4 percent were females.
  • In 2006, there were 125 drug and alcohol rehabilitations centers, in Iowa, of which 28 offered residential treatment while 4 offered Opioid treatment.
  • The number of 11th grade students that reported current and lifetime use of tobacco, current and lifetime abuse of alcohol, binge drinking, lifetime abuse of Marijuana, lifetime abuse of Meth, and lifetime abuse of Cocaine/Crack in the 2010 Iowa Youth Survey are lower than past years.
  • According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Iowa has the lowest rate of illegal drug use in the nation.
  • The number of people starting a drug and alcohol treatment in Iowa for drug-only addiction had increased from 6 percent in 1992 to 23 percent in 2006. Iowa keeps on ranking among the lowest within the states with unmet treatment needs for every population groups.
  • In 2009, Iowa ranked among ten states with the highest rates of binge drinking within the last month in 2 age categories, 12 to 20 and 26 and older.
  • The number of people beginning a treatment for both alcohol as the main abused substance and alcohol mixed with a secondary drug has increased from 2007.
  • Marijuana keeps on being the most abused illegal drug in Iowa, and is the drug of choice by 22.1 percent of all adult substance abuse treatment patients and 65 percent of juveniles in treatment. The Above are the highest rates of Marijuana using treatment patients in recent Iowa history. According to the 2010 Iowa Youth Survey, 26% of Iowa 11th graders have used marijuana
  • The fastest growing form of substance abuse by Iowa residents involves prescription and over-the counter medicines. Nationwide, drug overdoses outnumber gunshot deaths and have now also surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of accidental deaths.
  • In 2009, 8,668 people entered treatment for alcohol only with an additional 6,384 people that suffered from alcohol abuse in combination with a secondary drug.
  • In 2009, 1,094 people entered treatment for Cocaine/Crack abuse, in Iowa.
  • The number of people that went to treatment, in Iowa, for Cocaine abuse of all forms (shooting, snorting, smoking etc.) has declined over the last several years.
  • In 2009, 7,273 people entered drug treatment for Marijuana dependence, with the majority of those admissions being males.
  • Despite Iowa having 1 of the lowest rates of teens staring a treatment for Marijuana abuse, 23.5 percent of those that entered treatment were 12 to 17 years of age.
  • Stimulants abuse (including meth) ranked 2nd among those drugs most commonly abused by those entering treatment in 2010, in Iowa.
  • In Iowa, there were 2,950 persons who entered treatment for amphetamine abuse in 2009 with a few hundred more admitted for other drugs like, LSD, hallucinogens, tranquilizers etc.
  • The number of Iowa Meth lab seizures increased from 181 incidents in 2007 to 267 seizures in 2009. The number of Meth laboratory seizures had significantly decreased from 2004 when a total of 1,437 incidents occurred.
  • The Office of National Drug Use Policy says, in Iowa, 211 people died as a direct cause of drug use compared with 459 persons who died from car accidents and 157 from firearms.
  • In 2003, nearly half of the adult males arrested in Des Moines, Iowa tested positive for Marijuana, according to the National Institute of Justice.