DENVER (KDVR) — Research from Wallet Hub shows Colorado has one of the biggest drug problems in the country.
Wallet Hub said researchers looked at 21 different metrics for each state, which compared drug arrests, overdose rates, opioid prescriptions, and employee drug testing laws.
Here’s the rankings from Wallet Hub for highest drug use. Colorado lands at seventh overall.
Overall Rank StateTotal Score Drug Use & Addiction Law Enforcement Drug Health Issues & Rehab 1West Virginia58.4243232District of Columbia57.2412973Arkansas54.0214494Missouri53.36291125New Mexico52.6787256Nevada52.4193717Colorado52.4017688Michigan52.09131949Oregon49.66743210Tennessee48.913253211Louisiana48.3712211412Kentucky46.82585013Rhode Island46.791147514Indiana46.6310144415Massachusetts46.3518201516Montana46.2716231117Vermont45.672493618Arizona45.522128619Maine45.406462120Oklahoma44.103132321Wyoming43.914023022Illinois43.7524183123Washington42.0915442024New Hampshire41.5634153725Kansas41.2536241026Alaska40.7820481627Mississippi40.2332262228New York40.1437164029California39.6522303830Pennsylvania39.313594831Maryland38.9525383332North Carolina38.5627273933Florida38.5233421334Delaware37.9330412735New Jersey37.5241123436Connecticut37.4523354237Texas36.9546131838Ohio36.4319404739South Carolina36.2426503540Wisconsin35.3442104641Alabama34.4228511942Georgia34.1838362643South Dakota33.8749112844Virginia33.7744174345Nebraska33.5848221746North Dakota33.195154547Iowa32.8143332448Idaho30.3047312949Utah28.5745344150Hawaii25.2039455151Minnesota22.93503949Credit: Wallet Hub
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the worst conditions for that metric category.
Other rankings for Colorado
14th – Share of teenagers who used illicit drugs in the past month6th – Share of adults who used illicit drugs in the past month30th – Drug overdose deaths per capita2nd – Share of adults who couldn’t get treatment for illicit drug use in the past year19th – Substance abuse treatment facilities per 100,000 people (Age 12+) using illicit drugs
Experts said that authorities need to be honest in how they approach this topic in the public arena, “the war on drugs and “this is your brain on drugs” backfired badly.”
“Clearly, attempting to keep drugs out of the country is a lost cause – in part because many drugs that are misused (fentanyl analogs) are easily manufactured anywhere,” shared Ph.D. Charles France, Professor of Pharmacology, and Professor of Psychiatry.
Wallet Hub ranked Minnesota as having the lowest drug use in the country. The highest drug use in the country was determined to be in West Virginia.
