According to the data collected by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there is an overall incline of drug overdose seen between 2000 – 2014 in the US. Most prominently, we see large increases in overdoses related to prescription drug abuse with Illicit and Opioid drugs following behind.
Tool Tip: Move your mouse cursor over the trend lines to view the associated labels.
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
From the large numbers of Prescription Drug overdoses there is a direct correlation between the more Prescription drugs sold in a state and the number of overdoses that occur. The chart to the right shows the correlation made from data in 2010.
At the time the outliers that stick out from the group are Florida, with the highest percentage of prescription drugs sold, and maintaining one of the highest rates of overdose deaths. Nevada, showing the second highest rates of prescription drugs sold and actual overdose deaths. Followed by Nevada with the highest level percentage of overdose rates.
Tooltip Hint: Move cursor over a dot to reveal state overdose and sale percentages for the year.
Source: CDC
The effects of drug use prevalence can also be seen through arrest records data across the United States showing a sizeable amount of arrests across the country per 1000 persons. California, Texas and Florida lead the nation in arrest records in 2014 according to data accessible from the FBI U.S. Department of Justice.
Tooltip Hint: Hover over the states with your cursor to be able to see arrests per 1000 made in 2014.
Source: FBI U.S. Department of Justice
Drug Trend Prevalence might be more manageable if stronger attempts are made to minimize exposure to our nation’s youth. Drugabuse.gov has datasets that collect anonymous survey data from U.S. Highschool Students who have been exposed to Drugs in their lifetime. More specifically, the dataset in question shows exposure from 2012 – 2015. Based on the small multiples chart below, we can see trends that affect all Highschool grade levels as well as grade specific trends. In all grade levels, we see large increases in E-cigarette usage, while regular cigarette usage declines. LSD and MDMA are also incline across all grade level groups, while Methamphetamine decline sharply.
Eighth Graders: are seen with the lowest levels of drug exposure with the exception of inhalants which has the highest percentage of all 3 groups.
Tenth Graders: Factor higher percentages of drug exposures than eighth graders, but lower than twelfth graders. They are also the second highest group of inhalant users.
Twelth Graders: Show a significantly higher percentage of drug exposure across all drugs listed. They show the least exposure to Methamphetamine and a decline in Marijuana use. This may be due to interest in other drugs as this group is the one with the most inclining trends.
Tooltip Hint: Use the grade level tool bar on the right to view the results across the different grade levels.
Source: DrugAbuse.gov
Three different studies have been conducted to show the lifetime prevalence found within the age group 18 - 25 from the time of first exposure. The Data shows that Alcohol is rated the highest in actual lifetime prevalence of a user followed by Cigarettes and Marijuana.
The studies conducted came from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), Monitoring the Future (MTF) and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
Tooltip Hint: Move cursor over the Stacked Barchart to view the results of the surveys. You can also switch between raw count and percent perspectives using the radial buttons.
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse