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Rhode Island Drug Statistics and Facts

  • The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, in Rhode Island, reported 10,147 admissions for alcohol and drug addiction treatment in 2010. Of that number, 70.3 percent were men and 29.7 percent were women.
  • In a survey conducted in 2006 and 2007, the state of Rhode Island showed the highest rate of illegal drug use among people of 12 and older
  • Rhode Island is also among 6 states that saw significant increases in illegal drug use since the previous survey, in 2005 to 2006 among those ages 12 to 25.
  • There are 60 alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers in Rhode Island, but across all addictions unmet, treatment needs persist among the top ten highest in the nation primarily for the 18 to 25 year old group.
  • Over 11% of Rhode Island residents 12 and use illegal drugs, the highest rate in the nation, and Rhode Island has the highest rate of persons 12 years and over needing but not receiving treatment for illegal drug use, at 3.3%.
  • Treatment data indicate that Heroin frequently is abused in Rhode Island. The number of Heroin related treatment admissions in Rhode Island exceeded admissions for any other illegal drug from 1997 through 2001
  • According to Treatment Episode Data Set, the number of Heroin related treatment admissions, in Rhode Island, to publicly funded centers increased from 3,745 in 1997 to 5,040 in 2001.
  • Since 1992, alcohol abuse treatment admissions have been on the drop from 53 percent to 29 percent in 2006 while drug only admissions have doubled from 21 percent to 46 percent during the same time frame.
  • The percentage of young people reporting Heroin abuse in Rhode Island is akin to the national percentage. According to the 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 4.0% of Rhode Island high school students surveyed reported having abused Heroin at least once in their lifetime; this rate is statistically similar to the percentage nationwide (3.1 percent).
  • In Pennsylvania, 3,000 adolescent males and 3,000 adolescent females used painkillers nonmedically in the 12 months prior to the interview.
  • The amount of Heroin seized by federal law enforcement officials in Rhode Island remained stable from 1998 through 2002.
  • Adolescent females were significantly more likely than adolescent males to have experienced alcohol dependence in the previous year (2.1% versus 0.5%), in Rhode Island.
  • Since 2005, the number of drug poisoning deaths, in Rhode Island, has exceeded the number of car accidents, falls, firearms, and fire death among adults 85 years of age.
  • From 2005 to 2009, there were 19,733 emergency room visits for drug poisonings, in Rhode Island.
  • Rhode Island was within the states with the highest rates of Cocaine abuse among 3 age groups: 12 to 17, 18 to 25, and 26 to 30. In 2010, 869 people were admitted for Cocaine addiction treatment.
  • There were 1,993 Rhode Island residents admitted to drug addiction treatment programs for Heroin, in 2010.
  • Nearly 12,000 (13.8%) of the 87,000 adolescents in Rhode Island used an illegal drug in the past month; 10,000 (11.5%) used Marijuana, and 5,000 (5.8%) used an illegal drug other than Marijuana.
  • In Rhode Island, there were 1,323 persons that went to treatment for the use of Opiates other than Heroin in 2010.
  • In 2003 to 2006, rates of unmet need for last year alcohol and drug problems were much the same between adolescent males and females in Rhode Island.
  • Rhode Island ranks within the 18 states where there are more drugs induced deaths than other causes of death. 142 people died due to drug use compared to 85 persons that died in car accidents and 37 people who died as a result of firearms in 2007.