Hawaii is ranked among the best surfing destinations of the United States as well as of the world. However, it has an ongoing problem that many people do not understand or realize exists. This problem involves drugs and alcohol, among many other substances of abuse that the residents of this state take.
A popular vacation spot, the state of Hawaii struggles with relatively high rates of alcohol abuse and addiction. This is not exactly surprising considering that many of the people who visit it do so to relax and unwind. This habit has made it across the state and most of its state now struggle with an alcohol use disorder.
This problem is so widespread that it was recently reported that close to 50 percent of the entire adult population of the state had used alcohol at least once in 2019. However, alcohol is not the only substance of abuse that it being taken by the residents of Hawaii.
From 2014 to 2014, SAMHSA - or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - conducted the widely known NSDUH - the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
This survey reported that there were about 1 million residents in Hawaii. Of this number, 12.6 percent of 133,000 people had abused marijuana in the month prior to the survey. About 2 percent or 21,000 people had abused cocaine while 0.2 percent of the population or 2,000 people had engaged in heroin abuse.
Even though these numbers seem to be relatively low, they have been rising through the years. Additionally, street drugs like cocaine and heroin are increasingly becoming common among the residents of the state.
The abuse of heroin in Hawaii - as in the rest of the United States - is typically encouraged albeit indirectly by the pharmaceutical industry. Many of the people of this state who end up abusing heroin do so after they have developed an opioid use disorder linked to a legal prescription pain relief medication.
When these people receive a prescription for pain killers, they take them exactly as their doctor instructed before finding that they have developed tolerance, dependence, and addiction. At some point, they experience problems trying to access more opioids in a legal way. As a result, a great number of them turn to heroin - because it is much more widely available at a lower price.
Apart from opioids, methamphetamine or crystal meth is also widely abused in the state. Officials now estimate that the total number of people who might already be addicted to this drug could be around 120,000. It has also been reported that over 35 percent of the male inmates in the state found themselves in the criminal justice system with crystal meth in their bodily system.
Although the rates of substance abuse and addiction in this state are startlingly high, there is hope for recovery. There are many treatment and rehabilitation facilities that can help you overcome your drug or alcohol abuse problem in Hawaii as well as turn your life around to health and wellness.