NCJ Number
235433
Date Published
1991
Length
128 pages
Annotation
This statistical report presents annual data on emergency room drug-abuse related episodes for the year 1990, as obtained from the Drug Abuse Warning Network.
Abstract
Highlights from this report include: in 1990 there were 372,900 drug-abuse related episodes reported in hospital emergency rooms; 47 percent of the patients were male, 59 percent were White, 24 percent were Black, and 8 percent were Hispanic; 39 percent of the patients were aged 18 to 29, while 48 percent were aged 30 or older; multiple drugs were reported in 49 percent of all emergency room drug abuse episodes, with multiple drugs used by 52 percent of the White patients, 47 percent of the Black patients, and 42 percent of the Hispanic patients; suicide was the motive for drug use in 47 percent of the emergency room episodes, with 59 percent of the suicides involving a female patient compared; and alcohol-in-combination was reported in 31 percent of all emergency room episodes, followed by cocaine (22 percent), heroin/morphine (9 percent), and non-narcotic analgesics and marijuana (4 percent). This report presents annual data on emergency room drug-abuse related episodes and drug mentions that were collected through the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) for the calendar year 1990. Data were obtained from 503 sample hospitals with 533 separate emergency room facilities in 21 metropolitan areas located throughout the coterminous United States. Tables and appendixes