State Comparison of Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health

A new report is out that provides a state-by-state comparison of a wide range of behavioral health issues. Every state has to deal with some significant challenges with mental illness and substance abuse. For example, among people 12 and older, Alaska’s current illicit drug use rate more than double that in Iowa (13% versus 5%), yet Iowa was among the top 10 states when it came to binge drinking (28%).

The report was developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and provides valuable insight to state public health authorities and service providers on the scope and type of behavioral health issues affecting their states. The report uses the combined 2008 and 2009 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH ), which is drawn from interviews with more than 100,000 persons from around the country, and provides a state-by-state breakdown along 25 different measures of substance abuse and mental health problems, including illicit drug use, binge drinking, alcohol and illicit drug dependence, tobacco use, serious mental illness, and major depressive episode. Other notable findings include:

Fewer people in many states perceived that cigarette use can be risky. Between the combined years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 the perception of great risk from smoking one or more pack of cigarettes a day decreased in 14 states among those aged 12 to 17; in 31 states among those aged 18 to 25 and in 9 states among those 26 and older.
Current illicit drug use dropped among adolescents aged 12 to 17 in 17 states between 2002-2003 and 2008-2009; no increases in current illicit drug use occurred in any state in this age group over this time period.
While the District of Columbia had the nation’s highest rate of past year alcohol dependence or abuse for those 26 or older (8.1%), it had the lowest rate among persons aged 12 to 17 (3.0%).
Utah had the lowest rate of current marijuana use (3.6%) while Alaska had the highest rate (11.5%).
Between 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 11 states showed declines in past year cocaine use among persons aged 12 or older (in alphabetical order — Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee and Virginia).
Rhode Island had the nation’s highest rate of adults aged 18 or older experiencing serious mental illness in the past year (7.2%), while Hawaii and South Dakota shared the lowest rate (3.5%)

By azdhs-admin|2017-02-10T09:51:37-07:00August 10th, 2011|General|1 Comment

About the Author: azdhs-admin

Arlis Jenkins is the Hepatitis C Epidemiology Program Manager at the Arizona Department of Health Services. Her work involves specialized knowledge of state and local jurisdictions, social determinants of health and harm reduction services including drug user health and sex positivity. She is tasked with hepatitis C elimination planning and strategy implementation, a collaborative project that necessitates statewide community engagement and the formation of strategic partnerships to increase access to quality hepatitis C prevention and care services for all Arizonans.

One Comment

Dray June 6, 2014 at 6:26 pm

First of all, thank you for this information, it’s good to know this numbers, that makes me wonder what is the statistics now? i guess it’s increases more. Nowadays, many teenagers ranging 13 to 15 are heavy drinkers and smokers (not to mention those kids abusing prescription drugs or another kind of substance including their all time favorite, MJ, or heroin). I hope the government must push themselves more to destroy this bad habbit of these kids before it’s too late.

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