 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Amelia M. Arria, PhD1, Kevin E. O'Grady, PhD2, and Eric D. Wish, PhD1. (1) Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), University of Maryland, College Park, 4321 Hartwick Road, Suite 501, College Park, MD 20740, 301-403-8329, aarria@cesar.umd.edu, (2) Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, 1147 Biology/Psychology Building, College Park, MD 20740
Several national epidemiologic surveillance systems have detected an increase in the use of synthetic opiates, including Oxycodone. This study examines state-level data from Maryland, as well as national data from the Monitoring the Future Survey, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, the Treatment Episode Dataset and the Community Epidemiology Workgroup to identify trends in the use of synthetic opiates. For example, admissions to treatment in Maryland for the category “other opiates” increased from 2.9% of all admissions in 2000 to 4.1% in 2001, an increase of 72%. Data from the Monitoring the Future Survey of youth reveals that, in 2002, 9.6% of high school seniors reported non-medical use of Vicodin in the past year. From the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, it is estimated that 6.4% of 12-17 year olds and 9.6% of 18-25 year olds reported non-medical use of prescription-type pain relievers. This study provides an overview of the magnitude and regional distribution of non-medical use of synthetic opiates, as well as characteristics of users. This information is useful for raising awareness of the problem as well as designing targeted prevention initiatives.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Drug Abuse, Prescription Drug Use Patterns
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.