NCJ Number
233633
Date Published
May 2010
Length
297 pages
Annotation
Data presented address drug-related deaths that occurred during calendar year 2008 and were reported by participating medical examiners/coroners (ME/Cs) to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), a public health surveillance system that monitors drug-related deaths referred to ME/Cs in the United States.
Abstract
One table presents data on the rates of drug-related deaths and drug-related suicide deaths per 100,000 population for metropolitan areas and States that participated in DAWN in 2008. For 2008, there were 373 jurisdiction in 153 metropolitan areas and 447 jurisdictions in 12 States that submitted mortality data to DAWN. One table presents the name of the metropolitan area; the total number of death investigation jurisdictions (counties) in the area; the number and percentage of eligible counties for which mortality data were reported to DAWN, and the number and percentage of the area's population that is covered by DAWN-participating jurisdictions. Although the data do not support any representations at a national level, some generalizations can be made at a metropolitan level, even if some ME/Cs do not participate. Another table reports that rates of drug-related deaths and drug-related suicide deaths per 100,000 population for metropolitan areas and States that Participated in DAWN in 2008. A third table compares the rates of drug-related suicide deaths because of their small numbers. This table is limited to those areas where the same jurisdictions participated in 2007 as in 2008. Among the 153 metropolitan areas, full profiles are provided for 46 metropolitan areas. Brief profiles are provided for 107 metropolitan areas that either submitted 30 or fewer drug-related deaths or had less than 50 percent population coverage. County profiles are provided for 50 individual counties. Approximately one-third of the Nation's population is covered by the ME/Cs participating in DAWN. Extensive tables and figures