Arizona Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programs

Meth, alcohol, and opioids are the most abused substances in Arizona. These drugs continue to destroy lives and relationships in the state. This is despite the fact that there are some effective and proven treatment and rehabilitation options - including both outpatient and inpatient alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs.

Today, addiction has become a growing crisis all over the United States. In 2014, for instance, more than 21.5 million people around the country were suffering from substance use disorder.

In Arizona, the trend is no different. If you are in this state and you have this problem, you should know that effective and compassionate care is available to help you achieve full sobriety and recovery in the long term.

Understanding Substance Abuse In Arizona

Deaths arising from drug overdose have become more frequent all across Arizona. In 2017, the problem was so endemic that Governor Doug Ducey created a public health emergency in the state to respond to the alarming rates of fatalities linked to opioids.

Further, the Department of Health Services in the state reports that:

• Opioids were responsible for 790 deaths in the state in 2016, a marked increase of 74 percent from 2012
• On the other hand, fatalities arising from heroin accounted for around 54% of all the opioid deaths in Arizona over the past 2 years - and about 64% within the past 4 years
• Additional trends show that Arizona may suffer opioid overdoses that might go past the 1,000 mark by 2019 if the problem continues unabated

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) also released a report that showed that alcohol was among the leading substances of abuse in the state. Addiction treatment centers, for instance, had the greatest admissions of alcoholics and persons suffering from alcohol use disorders. This substance was only followed by meth, another devastating drug.

By numbers, the following are some of the most commonly abused drugs in Arizona:

• Alcohol: 27 percent
• Methamphetamine: 23 percent
• Morphine and Heroin: 19 percent
• Marijuana: 17 percent
• Other Opioids: 8 percent
• Cocaine: 4 percent

Statistics On Substance Abuse In Arizona

In 2010, more than 18,000 people were admitted into alcohol and drug rehab centers in this state. Of this number, 39.2% were female while 60.8% were male. Additionally, Arizona had about 212 facilities providing addiction treatment and rehabilitation services by 2006. 29 of these facilities offered opiate treatment while 53 were focused on providing residential care for alcohol and drug addicted individuals.

From the 1990s, the total number of admissions for people struggling with alcohol use disorders dropped slightly in the state. During the same time, however, the number of admissions related to drugs only increased to 27% by 2005 from a paltry 15% in 1998.

For alcohol and most drugs, the state has consistently been below the national average of substance use disorders since 2003. Even so, local residents between the ages of 12 and 17 continue struggling with marijuana - making Arizona one of the top 10 states that abuses this drug. The same demographic also continues struggling with cocaine abuse.

Additionally, binge drinking of alcohol among people between 25 and 34 years increased by close to 10 percentage points from 2006 to 2008 - which shows a growing problem linked to the consumption of alcohol in Arizona.

Further, there has been an increase in the total number of hospital and rehab admissions linked to methamphetamine abuse in this state over the past 11 years - showing that this drug is also important to watch.

Commonly Abused Drugs In Arizona

Like any other state in the country, Arizona continues battling the drug and alcohol crisis on an annual basis. To better understand this war against drugs in the state, consider the following commonly abused substances:

1. Alcohol Addiction

The 2009 Arizona Substance Epidemiology Profile showed that binge drinking among people between the ages of 25 and 34 went up by 10% from 2002 to 2006. During the same time, more than 3,900 local residents checked into a rehabilitation facility to control their alcohol use disorder. An additional 2229 went for rehab for alcohol alongside a secondary substance.

2. Cocaine Addiction

In 2010, more than 445 people in Arizona went for drug rehabilitation services as a result of smoking cocaine. An additional 344 underwent treatment due to ingesting cocaine through other routes of administration.

3. Heroin Addiction

The same year, over 2,400 people in Arizona underwent addiction treatment for ongoing heroin abuse. It is also estimated that about 30 percent of people between 21 and 25 years old abused this drug and checked into a treatment center to overcome their dependence and addiction.

4. Marijuana Addiction

Additionally, the state recorded admissions of over 2,770 in drug treatment centers catering to local residents struggling with marijuana dependence. Of this number, 29.3 percent were people between the ages of 21 and 25 years.

5. Methamphetamine Addiction

In 2010, close to 2,900 people received ongoing addiction treatment and rehabilitation for abusing and becoming dependent on amphetamines. This number included 54.6% female patients and about 45.4% male clients. The population that saw the greatest number of admissions for this substance use disorder included people between the ages of 26 and 30 years.

6. Prescription Drug Addiction

The Treatment Episode Data Set - or TEDS - for 2010 also showed that close to 2,399 people in the state were abusing unknown or other drugs.

Drug Court Statistics/Fatalities/Injuries In Arizona

In 2007, more than 980 people lost their lives as a direct result of abusing drugs. This is in comparison to 951 people who lost their lives in firearm incidents and 1,104 from motor car accidents the same year.

Between 2000 and 2007, the rates of fatalities linked to alcohol abuse in Arizona close to doubled. Similarly, marijuana seizures from 2001 to 2010 has seen a dramatic increase in this state.

Not too surprisingly, the seizures of meth in Arizona started declining between 2004 and 2009. However, this figure started escalating again from 2009. This is according to a 2011 report by the National Seizure System. In the same period, cocaine seizures dropped before climbing drastically. After that, they dropped gradually and have been leveling off within the past few years.

Arizona also accounted for 56 percent of all the cocaine seizures, 42 percent of all heroin seizures, and 42 percent of all marijuana seizures along the American southwestern border. By 2008, the state saw a 90 percent increase in the total amount of heroin that was seized by law enforcement officials.

Arizona has been experiencing a wide variety of crimes related to drug and alcohol abuse. According to an American Friends Service Committee research, for instance, these crimes affect the state in the following ways:

• 21.8% of prisoners in Arizona are incarcerated for crimes linked to drugs
• Arrests related to drugs are the largest category of all criminal offenses
• On a daily basis, Arizona spends close to $600,000 on housing inmates who have been charged and found guilty for drug offenses
• On average, the expense per person is $24,000
• The rate of recidivism for drug-related criminal offenses is close to 50 percent
• The state has the 5th highest rate of incarceration in the United States

Efforts To Address Arizona's Addiction Crisis

However, Arizona has been taking some steps to deal with the addiction problem. These steps include community awareness programs, overdose reversal medications, and needle exchange programs.

a) Community Awareness Programs

Arizona has several prevention programs designed to improve awareness on substance abuse and addiction. These programs include DrugFreeAZKids.org, 2-1-1 Arizona, and the Arizona Parents Commission on Drug Education and Prevention.

b) Naloxone for First Responders

The Department of Health Services in Arizona has provided more than 18,000 doses of Narcan (naloxone) to law enforcement agencies in the state. This opioid overdose reversal drug is designed to temporarily deal with an opioid overdose so that the victim can receive the medical support they need.

c) Needle Exchange Programs

The state senate introduced a bipartisan bill in 2018 designed to allow some organizations to run needle exchange programs in Arizona. These programs are designed to decrease the transmission of blood borne diseases and the other medical hazards that arise as a result of improperly discarded drug using needles.

Addiction Treatment In Arizona

If you are struggling with a substance use disorder in Arizona linked to either drugs or alcohol - or a combination of both - you might want to look at options to help you recover from your addiction.

The goal of this type of treatment would be to help you achieve recovery in the long term. By so doing, it can potentially enable you to lead a more productive and meaningful life both in your family and community and perform better in the workplace.

These programs are also designed to assist substance users find greater fulfilment in abstinence and sobriety instead of turning to alcohol and drugs in search of the fulfilment they need in their lives.