Nonmedical Use of Pain Relievers in Substate Regions; 2004 to 2006. The NSDUH Report

摘要

Misuse of prescription drugs is second only to marijuana as the nations most prevalent drug problem, and the annual average number of people using pain relievers nonmedically for the first time in the past 12 months has exceeded the number of new marijuana users since 2002. Accordingly, misuse of prescription pain relievers has been cited as a growing public health problem. Data on geographic variation in the nonmedical use of pain relievers (as well as other drugs) is important for developing targeted prevention and treatment programs. Previous research has shown that nonmedical use of pain relievers varies across States. A new Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) report provides data on substance use within smaller geographic areas within States. Data in this issue of The NSDUH Report highlight substate estimates of the nonmedical use of prescription pain relievers. They were extracted from a larger report entitled Substate Estimates from the 2004-2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.