10 States with Lowest Substance Abuse Rates in America

Published on October 23, 2014 at 2:17 am by Milagros Valdez in Lists

Are you interested in finding out which are the states with lowest substance abuse rates? Many Americans have misconceptions about drug abuse, including that they consider it an alien problem, when in fact it is a shared problem of our society as a whole. Actually, people of every economic background, geographic region, social class, educational level and ethnic and racial identity may be affected by drug use, abuse and their consequences. Naturally, some groups are at higher risk than others, and geography might make a difference; find out for yourself which are The 10 States with Highest Substance Abuse Rates Crippling Their Populace and draw your own conclusions on this matter.

In 2013, an estimated 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older were current (within the past month, as of the time of the study) illicit drug users, which represent 9.4% of the population over 12 years old. These figures only confirm that drug use affects lots of people; 45% of Americans know someone with a substance abuse problem. Everyone is potentially vulnerable, that’s why there are so many prevention and attention programs regarding drug use and abuse in the U.S. This pressing issue is constantly addressed by governmental and non-governmental organizations. In addition, drug abuse happens to be very costly for the United States government: hundreds of billions of dollars are spent on health care costs, crime, incarceration, drug enforcement and lost productivity, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

As we did for the list of the states with the highest substance abuse rates, we will use the figures from the 2011-2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey that is conducted and published by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The NSDUH estimates the prevalence of illicit drug use in the United States by surveying 70,000 people over the age of 12, individuals that are selected randomly each year.

Drug addiction is a major health problem in our country, so it is reassuring to know where the lowest substance abuse rates are. What we cannot tell is if the reason behind these figures is the effective governmental approach towards the problem or some other particular factor of the area. Anyhow, knowing things such as the fact that the geographical region with the lowest substance abuse rate is the Midwest might come in handy if you are planning on relocating or starting a family. The data on the places with the lowest rates is not intended to make you run away to those states, but to sit down and analyze the reasons behind these numbers and reflect on them at a national level.

Without further ado, here are the 10 states with lowest substance abuse rates.