Annual Data 1984: Data From the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)

• NCJ Number: 235447
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 260 pages
• Contract Number(s): 271-84-7308
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Corporate Author: CSR Incorporated
• Sale Source: SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Statistics
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Drug Abuse Warning Network Series I, Number 4

Annotation

This statistical report presents annual data on emergency room drug-abuse related episodes and drug-abuse related medical examiner cases for the year 1984, as obtained from the Drug Abuse Warning Network.

Abstract

Highlights from this report include: in 1984, 49 percent of the patients in emergency room (ER) drug-abuse related cases reported through the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) were male and 51 percent were female; 53 percent of the patients were White, 30 percent were Black, and 9 percent were Hispanic; 45 percent of the patients were aged 18 to 29 years, while 43 percent were 30 years and older; 56 percent of the episodes involved a single drug, with females accounting for the largest percent of these patients (57 percent); suicide was the primary motive in 39 percent of the episodes; and the most frequently mentioned drug was alcohol-in-combination (21 percent). In 1984, there were 3,486 drug-abuse related medical examiner cases reported to DAWN. Of these deaths, 66 percent of the decedents were male; 63 percent were White, 27 percent were Black, and 7 percent were Hispanic; 33 percent were between the ages of 18 and 29, while 65 percent were age 30 and older; and 69 percent of the episodes involved use of multiple drugs, with overdose being the primary cause of death in a majority of the cases (78 percent). This report presents annual data on ER drug-abuse related episodes and drug-abuse-related medical examiner cases for the year 1984, as reported through DAWN. Data for the report were obtained from hospitals in 27 metropolitan areas, and a sample of hospitals outside the primary metropolitan areas. DAWN is a large-scale, ongoing drug abuse collection system with several objectives: identifying substances associated with drug abuse episodes; monitoring drug abuse patterns and trends; assessing health hazards associated with drug abuse; and providing data for national, State, and local drug abuse policy and program planning. Tables and appendixes