A new report shows that drug-related emergency department visits increased in 2000 in the continental United States, according to a July 25 press release from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).According to SAMHSA's 2000 Emergency Department Data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), emergency department visits from the use of ecstasy rose 58 percent, from 2,850 visitors in 1999 to 4,511 in 2000.
The report further found that 31 percent of emergency cases involving patients age 25 and under were related to club drugs, including ecstasy, Rohypnol and Ketamine.
The report also showed that the number of heroin/morphine related emergency visits increased 15 percent, from 84,409 in 1999 to 97,287 in 2000.
Cocaine-related emergency visits constituted 29 percent of all drug-related visits in 2000, more than any other illegal substance measured by DAWN. There was no change in the number of marijuana/hashish and cocaine related visits from 1999 to 2000.
With regard to prescription drugs, from 1999 to 2000 emergency visits related to prescription drugs containing oxycodone increased 68 percent, while hydrocodone cases increased 31 percent.
In the 21 metropolitan areas covered by DAWN, seven had increases in drug-related emergency department visits from 1999 to 2000. They are Seattle, 32 percent; Boston, 28 percent; Los Angeles, 22 percent; Miami, 20 percent; Chicago, 16 percent; Minneapolis, 12 percent; and Phoenix, 9 percent.
On the other hand, Baltimore and San Francisco had a decline in drug-related emergency department visits, with the report showing a 19 percent and 12 percent drop, respectively.
There were no overall changes in drug-related visits in Atlanta, Buffalo, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Diego and Washington, D.C.
"This report shows again that we face serious gaps in preventing and treating substance abuse, especially with club drugs," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. "Our first line of defense against substance abuse must be prevention. We need to reach out to people before they become statistics in emergency departments - or worse, in the morgue. This is why it's so important for Congress to move quickly to approve the Administration's drug prevention and treatment budget."
The DAWN report is available on the SAMHSA website, or by calling SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Drug and Alcohol Information at 1-800-729-2600.
http://www.samhsa.gov/news/click3_frame.html
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