NCJ Number
172334
Date Published
1996
Length
77 pages
Annotation
This document presents preliminary annual and semi-annual data for 1995 and final annual and semi-annual estimates of drug-related emergency department episodes for 1988 through 1994 from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), an ongoing national survey of hospital emergency departments.
Abstract
The report includes data on annual trends in: total drug-related episodes, cocaine-related episodes, heroin-related episodes, other illicit drug-related episodes, prescription and over-the-counter drug-related episodes, and annual trends in selected metropolitan areas. In 1995, there were 531,800 drug-related hospital emergency department episodes. This was up slightly from 1994 (518,000 episodes), but is not a statistically significant increase. Suicide attempt or gesture (203,600) was the most commonly reported motive for taking a substance, comprising 38 percent of all drug-related episodes in 1995. The most frequently recorded reason for a drug-related emergency department visit was overdose (275,700). Results reported in this study show that the non-medical use of drugs continues to place an increasing burden on hospital emergency departments. Figures, notes, appendixes