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West Virginia Drug Statistics and Facts

  • In 2009, 6,070 people were admitted to alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers, in West Virginia. The numbers continued to fluctuate as there were 6,383 people that went to drug and alcohol treatment in 2005 and 7,642 that went in 2006
  • In 2006, the latest year of reported statistics, West Virginia had 83 rehabilitation centers. 25 addiction rehabs centers in the state of West Virginia offer residential care with only 8 centers providing Opioid treatment.
  • Between 2006 to 2010, the average adults in West Virginia reported a lower rate of binge drinking than the National average.
  • On average students in West Virginia grades, 9th through 12th reported a higher rate of binge drinking than the National average rate of drinking from 1993 to 2009.
  • Although West Virginia young adults had reported a steady decline of Marijuana use since 1999, the prevalence of Marijuana use is significantly higher than the National average.
  • In the Nation, West Virginia has the highest per capita substance abuse overdose death rate.
  • Nine out of 10 overdose deaths have prescription drugs as a sole or contributing cause of death, in West Virginia, and it's not only a public health problem, it is the number 1 crime problem in the Southern District of West Virginia and a significant financial burden to the state.
  • Young adults in West Virginia ages 18 to 25 years old had the highest prevalence of non medical use and painkillers in 2007 to 2008.
  • West Virginia students grades, 9th through 12th reported ever using Heroin on 1 or more times during their life is almost double that of the national average.
  • In 2010, the West Virginia Prescription Drug Abuse Quit line reported that 73 percent of the calls they received were for abuse of Opioids.
  • Exposure to illegal drugs during pregnancy, in West Virginia, has been reported to be linked with increased incidences of premature birth and low birth weight.
  • In 2009, alcohol was a factor in 40 percent of fatal car accidents in West Virginia.
  • The rate of adults arrested, in West Virginia, for driving under the influence, in 2010 was 33.6 per 10,000 individuals.
  • From 2001 to 2010 West Virginia had a 214 percent increase in the number of prescription medication overdoses in the state.
  • West Virginia had the highest percentage of prescription medication overdose deaths, in the U.S., exceeding, both falls and car crashes as the main cause of accidental death.
  • The West Virginia Poison Control received more than 500 reports in 2010 related to Opioid exposures compared to 115 reports for Marijuana, Heroin, Meth, and Cocaine combined.
  • Over 45 percent of females, in West Virginia, grades 9th through 12th reported obtaining alcohol they drank by someone giving it to them.
  • People 18 to 25 years old, in West Virginia, have the lowest perceived risk of having 5 or more drinks of an alcoholic beverage once or twice a week.
  • In 5 years, 1999 to 2004, deaths resulting from a drug overdose in West Virginia rose 550 percent. That was the largest increase of any state in the country.
  • The number of emergency department visits attributable to the abuse of prescription drugs increased by 97 percent from 2004 to 2008.