According to recent studies, Indiana has the 10th biggest drug related problem in the United States. This is not exactly surprising considering its central location along the expanding drug trade sweeping across the country from outside.
SAMHSA - the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - reported that Indiana ranked in the 25th spot for the total number of teens who had used an illicit drug within the month prior to its survey. It was also in the 19th position for the total number of adults who had taken these drugs within the same period.
Further, it was ranked in the 10th position for the total number of opioid pain relief medications that were prescribed per capita. The state was also 19th in the number of drug overdose deaths reported per capita, as well as 12th in the number of drug arrests made per capita.
Drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation centers in the state have been trying to reduce the growing drug problems affecting its residents. Although major cities such as Indianapolis continue receiving the bulk of the attention of the media, it seems that the growing opioid epidemic also affects the small rural communities of the States. Sometimes, it does so even more harshly that is the case in the highly populated and largely urbanized cities of Indiana.
Indiana's small rural towns and counties are affected disproportionately by the growing opioid epidemic. In Scott County, for instance, the total number of drug overdoses and cases of drug poisonings have been growing in the past years.
For instance, the total rate of drug poisonings for every segment of 100,000 people in this county that was reported in 2016 was close to 300 percent as high as the average reported across the state. More specifically, the county experienced a rate of opioid overdoses that was more than 500 percent higher than total averages at the state level.
In 2017, the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at the Indiana University reported that the Clark County had a total of 161 emergency room visits for every segment of 100,000 people involving heroin. This rate was 54 percent higher than total averages for the state - which were at 104 emergency room visits for every segment of 100,000 people.
The State Department of Health also reported that Fayette County had an average of 235 visits to an emergency visit for every segment of 100,000 people involving opioid incidents. This was 125 percent as high as the total state average for 2016.
Other figures show that Marion County and Indianapolis contribute to the largest percentage of the number of drug overdoses reported in this state every year - a problem that continues to grow into other counties and cities.
Communities across the state have been trying to work hand in hand with professionally licensed and accredited addiction treatment facilities to help people overcome their substance abuse and addiction related problems. In case you are addicted to any drug of abuse in Indiana, it is recommended that you enroll in one of these centers so that you can get the help that you need to achieve long term recovery.