NCJ Number
166453
Date Published
1996
Length
163 pages
Annotation
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Bureau of Substance Abuse Services and Health and Addictions Research have developed a database of substance use indicators for the 351 communities in the Commonwealth.
Abstract
The database contains nearly 10 years of data, and the indicators measure adverse consequences of substance use to help planners and communities understand the status of their area relative to other areas over time. The indicators include hospital discharges, deaths, fatal traffic accidents, district court cases, publicly funded treatment admissions, and AIDS cases that are attributable to alcohol and other drug use. The data indicate alcohol consumption in Massachusetts declined by 20 percent between 1985 and 1992, although drinking by males under 25 years of age increased. A greater percentage of students in grades 7, 8, and 9 used cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs in 1993 than in 1990. Between 1988 and 1993, smoking among adults declined and the majority of smokers wanted to stop smoking. Morbidity related to substance use steadily increased between 1985 and 1993, while morbidity related to alcohol declined slightly from 1992 to 1993. Mortality related to substance use declined between 1988 and 1990 but showed a slight increase between 1991 and 1993. Overall, alcohol indicators showed declines and drug indicators showed slight increases. Larger communities with populations over 90,000 tended to have higher rates of substance-related deaths, hospital discharges, substance use treatment admissions, and drug court cases. Smaller communities tended to have lower rates for all indicators except in the case of fatal accidents attributable to alcohol. Detailed statistics are provided on indicators of substance use in Massachusetts between 1985 and 1993 to help prevention and treatment planners. References, footnotes, tables, and figures