Back in 1999, not one state had a drug overdose rate of more than 6.1 per 100,000 young adults. Fast forward 14 years, and one heroin epidemic later, and 33 states had drug overdose deaths of 6.1 per 100,000 or higher from 2011 to 2013. The national average is now 7.3 per 100,000 youths.
West Virginia, New Mexico and Utah have the highest rates of young adult overdose deaths, with each around 12 deaths per 100,000 youths in 2013. This is more than five times higher than South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska, which had rates around 3 deaths per 100,000 teens and young adults.
Drug Overdose Deaths
The following drug overdose data represent three-year average crude rates for the age 12-25 population:| State | 1999-2001 Rate (95% C.I.) | 2005-2007 Rate (95% C.I.) | 2011-2013 Rate (95% C.I.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 2.3 (+/-0.6) | 6.9 (+/-1.0) | 6.2 (+/-0.9) |
| Alaska | 3.8 (+/-1.9) | 7.7 (+/-2.6) | 7.2 (+/-2.5) |
| Arizona | 4.0 (+/-0.7) | 7.4 (+/-0.9) | 10.2 (+/-1.0) |
| Arkansas | 2.4 (+/-0.8) | 7.9 (+/-1.4) | 8.4 (+/-1.4) |
| California | 1.7 (+/-0.2) | 3.2 (+/-0.2) | 4.9 (+/-0.3) |
| Colorado | 3.5 (+/-0.7) | 7.3 (+/-1.0) | 10.2 (+/-1.2) |
| Connecticut | 4.1 (+/-1.0) | 8.3 (+/-1.3) | 8.3 (+/-1.3) |
| Delaware | 2.7 (+/-1.5) | 5.1 (+/-2.0) | 10.2 (+/-2.7) |
| D.C. | 0.9 (+/-1.0) | 1.3 (+/-1.1) | --- |
| Florida | 5.8 (+/-0.5) | 10.7 (+/-0.6) | 5.7 (+/-0.5) |
| Georgia | 2.3 (+/-0.4) | 5.5 (+/-0.6) | 5.2 (+/-0.6) |
| Hawaii | 1.6* (+/-0.9) | 2.9 (+/-1.2) | 4.6 (+/-1.5) |
| Idaho | 2.5 (+/-1.1) | 3.3 (+/-1.2) | 5.8 (+/-1.5) |
| Illinois | 3.9 (+/-0.5) | 6.2 (+/-0.6) | 8.2 (+/-0.6) |
| Indiana | 2.4 (+/-0.5) | 9.7 (+/-1.0) | 9.6 (+/-1.0) |
| Iowa | 1.4 (+/-0.5) | 3.5 (+/-0.9) | 4.3 (+/-1.0) |
| Kansas | 1.3 (+/-0.5) | 4.1 (+/-1.0) | 5.9 (+/-1.2) |
| Kentucky | 4.0 (+/-0.8) | 11.5 (+/-1.3) | 10.5 (+/-1.3) |
| Louisiana | 3.5 (+/-0.7) | 13.4 (+/-1.4) | 6.2 (+/-0.9) |
| Maine | 3.6 (+/-1.4) | 10.2 (+/-2.3) | 4.7 (+/-1.6) |
| Maryland | 5.2 (+/-0.8) | 7.3 (+/-0.9) | 8.5 (+/-1.0) |
| Massachusetts | 5.2 (+/-0.8) | 6.8 (+/-0.8) | 7.8 (+/-0.9) |
| Michigan | 2.1 (+/-0.4) | 6.6 (+/-0.7) | 8.1 (+/-0.7) |
| Minnesota | 1.6 (+/-0.5) | 3.0 (+/-0.6) | 5.7 (+/-0.9) |
| Mississippi | 2.1 (+/-0.7) | 5.6 (+/-1.1) | 3.7 (+/-0.9) |
| Missouri | 3.1 (+/-0.6) | 7.5 (+/-0.9) | 9.5 (+/-1.0) |
| Montana | 1.6 (+/-1.0) | 7.5 (+/-2.2) | 7.0 (+/-2.2) |
| Nebraska | 1.4 (+/-0.7) | 2.5 (+/-0.9) | 3.7 (+/-1.1) |
| Nevada | 4.4 (+/-1.2) | 11.8 (+/-1.8) | 11.6 (+/-1.7) |
| New Hampshire | 3.0 (+/-1.3) | 10.5 (+/-2.3) | 9.3 (+/-2.2) |
| New Jersey | 4.8 (+/-0.7) | 6.3 (+/-0.7) | 10.7 (+/-0.9) |
| New Mexico | 6.1 (+/-1.4) | 9.8 (+/-1.8) | 12.5 (+/-2.0) |
| New York | 1.8 (+/-0.3) | 3.5 (+/-0.3) | 6.9 (+/-0.5) |
| North Carolina | 3.0 (+/-0.5) | 8.0 (+/-0.8) | 7.1 (+/-0.7) |
| North Dakota | 1.2 (+/-1.1) | 3.0 (+/-1.6) | 2.2 (+/-1.4) |
| Ohio | 2.2 (+/-0.4) | 6.9 (+/-0.6) | 9.1 (+/-0.7) |
| Oklahoma | 2.6 (+/-0.7) | 9.6 (+/-1.3) | 9.4 (+/-1.3) |
| Oregon | 2.5 (+/-0.7) | 5.3 (+/-1.0) | 6.5 (+/-1.1) |
| Pennsylvania | 6.1 (+/-0.6) | 10.5 (+/-0.7) | 11.8 (+/-0.8) |
| Rhode Island | 3.6 (+/-1.5) | 5.2 (+/-1.7) | 6 (+/-1.9) |
| South Carolina | 2.7 (+/-0.7) | 5.3 (+/-0.9) | 5.8 (+/-0.9) |
| South Dakota | 1.9 (+/-1.2) | 2.2 (+/-1.3) | 3.3 (+/-1.6) |
| Tennessee | 3.4 (+/-0.6) | 9.1 (+/-1.0) | 7.0 (+/-0.9) |
| Texas | 3.1 (+/-0.3) | 5.9 (+/-0.4) | 6.0 (+/-0.4) |
| Utah | 3.5 (+/-0.9) | 12.5 (+/-1.6) | 12.1 (+/-1.5) |
| Vermont | 4.8 (+/-2.3) | 6.9 (+/-2.7) | 7.0 (+/-2.7) |
| Virginia | 3.4 (+/-0.6) | 5.3 (+/-0.7) | 5.9 (+/-0.7) |
| Washington | 3.6 (+/-0.6) | 6.5 (+/-0.8) | 6.9 (+/-0.8) |
| West Virginia | 3.8 (+/-1.2) | 13.8 (+/-2.3) | 12.6 (+/-2.2) |
| Wisconsin | 2.0 (+/-0.5) | 5.8 (+/-0.8) | 8.8 (+/-1.0) |
| Wyoming | 1.6* (+/-1.4) | 3.7 (+/-2.1) | 9.8 (+/-3.4) |
NOTE: 95% confidence intervals shown in parenthesis
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System
There are some positive developments, however. Smoking tobacco is at an all-time low among young adults (at 9 percent nationally); underage drinking in high school has gone down (from 45 percent to 35 percent); and illicit drug use among 12- to 17-year-olds has decreased 13 percent since 2009.
Drug overdose death rates have increased everywhere since 1999, but the rate has gone down Florida, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi and Tennessee in the past 8 years. But even still, the rate increased in 13 states since 2007 -- and 11 of those states have overdose death rates above 6.1 per 100,000.
The report found a significant jump in overdoses from teen to young adult years. Overdose rates for 19- to 25-year-olds are eight times greater than people 18 and younger.
Prevention efforts are where states seem to be failing, according to Levi. Only Minnesota and New Jersey had a perfect score in evidence-based policies and programs designed to curb preventing and reducing substance abuse.
There isn’t a clear answer for why heroin addiction and overdose deaths have grown so dramatically, although the availability of prescription drugs might have something to do with it.
“A teenager doesn’t have to go out into the community and buy something from a drug dealer; they can just pop a few pills from a family member’s medicine cabinet,” said Brian Bumbarger, founding director of the Prevention Research Center at Penn State University. Someone addicted to opioid painkillers is then 40 times more likely to try heroin, the report finds.
Only one in 10 people who need substance abuse treatment are getting it, Levi said. "And often, the treatment is insufficent and not timely enough."
“If we can effectively educate teenagers while they are in school, we can keep overdoses from taking off in the 19 to 25 age bracket,” Levin claimed. “It’s a tragedy that only a quarter of states have prevention efforts and screening programs in schools.”
