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Opiate-Related Drug Misuse Deaths in 6 States: 2003

The DAWN Report:  Opiate-Related Drug Misuse Deaths in 6 States, 2003

Highlights

  • SAMHSA's Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) collects data on all deaths where drugs played a role, either directly (e.g., overdose) or indirectly (e.g., fatal car crash where drugs were involved). Drug misuse death is defined as a drug-related death caused by overmedication, all other accidental causes, homicide by drugs, and drug-related deaths where the cause could not be determined.
  • Opiates include heroin, methadone, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, Dilaudid, morphine, Demerol, opium, and any other drug with morphine-like effects. 
  • Six States participate in the mortality component of the Drug Abuse Warning Network: Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Utah, and Vermont. The rates of opiate-related drug misuse deaths in 2003 ranged from 7.2 per 100,000 population in New Hampshire to 11.6 per 100,000 population in New Mexico. In each of these 6 States, most opiate-related drug misuse deaths involved multiple drugs.
  • Three opiate pain medications as a group (oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone) were involved in 40% or more of the opiate misuse deaths in these States. The involvement of oxycodone ranged from 13% in New Mexico to 30% in Vermont; hydrocodone ranged from 3% in Maryland to 17% in Utah; and methadone ranged from 17% in New Mexico to 46% in Maine.

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This OAS Short Report, The DAWN Report:  Opiate-Related Drug Misuse Deaths in 6 States, 2003, is based on the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  

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SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.

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