Thursday, June 09, 2005

Data on Drug Deaths in 32 Cities and Six States Released by SAMHSA SAMHSA press release - " The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration today unveiled findings on drug-related mortality from the 2003 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) that provide a picture of deaths involving recent drug use in six states and 32 metropolitan areas. Among the metropolitan areas, Baltimore and Albuquerque had the highest rates of drug misuse deaths, exceeding 200 deaths per one million population. Another 14 areas had drug misuse death rates that exceeded 100 deaths per one million population. Six states provided mortality data to DAWN - Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Utah and Vermont. Fatality rates for drug misuse in these states ranged from 88 to 162 deaths per one million population. This is the first time there has been any state information from DAWN. These data show substantial variations in drug-related deaths across jurisdictions within the states, with the highest rates not always found in urban centers."