WEST VIRGINIA — President Richard Nixon started the “war on drugs” in June 1971, and since inception the United States has spent over a trillion dollars in the fight.
The personal-finance website, WalletHub recently released its report on the States with the Biggest Drug Problem and highlights the areas that stand to be most affected by drug addictions.
According to the CDC, statistics show there were more than 105,000 drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in October 2023, with the DEA seizing the equivalent of more than 376 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
West Virginia isn’t immune to the affects of drugs and addiction, and according to WalletHub, the Mountain State has the second-biggest drug problem, highlighted by the fact that it has the most overdose deaths and the second-most college campus drug arrests per capita.
Contributing to the high number of overdose deaths is the fact that according to WalletHub, West Virginia has a relatively low number of substance abuse, behavioral disorder and mental health social workers and counselors per capita, ranking number 30 for substance abuse treatments. Making it more difficult for people with drug problems to get the help that they need, it ranked 16th for share of adults who couldn’t get treatment for illicit drug use in the past year.
West Virginia also has the seventh-highest share of children living with someone who has a drug problem, ranks 10th for drug arrests per capita and 15th for opioid pain reliever prescriptions per 100 people.
The study shows that Nevada has the third-biggest drug problem, and the second highest (nearly 30 percent) of students who were offered, sold or given an illegal dug on school property. Nevada also has the third-highest ranking of teenagers who report that they tried marijuana before age 13.
Like West Virginia, WalletHub says that Nevada also has a very low number of substance abuse treatment facilities and counselors per capita and a high percentage of adults who don’t receive treatment for their drug problems.
The state that ranked number one as having the the highest drug-problem is New Mexico particularly in teenagers. According to WalletHub, the state has the highest percentage of teens using illicit drugs and the highest share of teenagers who report having tried marijuana before age 13, and the third-highest share of adults who use illicit drugs.
It is reported that New Mexico lacks policies in place that discourage drug use or to help people overcome it. There are also no employee drug testing laws in the state and it has the second-highest share of adults with drug problems who didn’t get treatment.
The states with the lowest overall drug use rankings are Nebraska (49), Utah (50) and Hawaii (51). Nebraska has a score of 30.87 and ranks last in drug use and addiction.
Utah scores a 29.52 and ranked 50th in percentage of teenage drug users. Ranking 51 overall, Hawaii scored 24.08, and ranked 46 in drug use and addiction, 49 in drug health issues and rehab.
Researchers say that the study compares the 50 states and the District of Columbia in three overall categories: 1) Drug Use & Addiction, 2) Law Enforcement and 3) Drug Health Issues & Rehab.
20 key metrics ranging from arrest and overdose rates to opioid prescription use and employee drug testing laws were used and graded on a 100-point scale. The exact metrics can be found here.
(Video in the story shows the top stories for Wednesday, May 1, 2024)
