1999-2000 Comprehensive Community Assessment

Issue Area Factual Data

 

WARRICK COUNTY

 

Issue:

“Alcohol and Drug Abuse”

 

 

1.      County drug arrests:

 

In 1997, the Warrick County Sheriff’s Department arrested 84 adults on felony drug charges, and 42 on misdemeanor charges. [1]

 

In 1997, 49 juvenile were arrested for selling and distributing controlled substances. [2]

 

2.      Involvement with domestic violence:

 

During the first 10 months of 1997, there were 111 domestic violence cases prosecuted by the Warrick County prosecutor. It is estimated that 45% of domestic violence cases involve persons under the influence of “one or more substances”, according to reporting officers. [3]

 

3.      Prevalence of substance abuse:

 

a) Current Use (Past Month) of Illicit Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco by Age:

 

Illicit Drugs                             Alcohol                                                Cigarette

Current Use by Age:              Current Use by Age:              Current Use by Age:

 

Age	Used Past Month		Age	Used Past Month		Age	Used Past Month
12-17	9.9%		12-17	19.1%		12-17	18.2%
18-25	16.1%		18-25	60.0%		18-25	41.6%
26-34	7.0%		26-34	60.9%		26-34	32.5%
35+	3.3%		35+	53.1%		35+	25.1%
TOTAL	6.2%		TOTAL	51.7%		TOTAL	27.7%

 

• Young adults (18-25) were the most likely to use illicit drugs (16.1%) and to binge or drink heavily. Among those young adults who had at least one drink in the past month, about 54% were binge drinkers and almost 25% were heavy drinkers.[4]

 

• Marijuana accounted for 60% of all illicit drug activity during past month, with another 21% mixed with another illicit substance.[5]

 

• Smoking patterns among young adults (18-25) increased significantly since 1994 (from 34.6% to 41.6%); whereas youth 17-25 have remained stable at approximately 18%.[6]

 

 

b) Race/Ethnicity:

 

Current Illicit Drug Use                         Current Alcohol Use

Race	Used Past Month		Race	Used Past Month
White	6.1%		White	55.3%
Black	8.2%		Black	39.8%
Hispanic	6.1%		Hispanic	45.4%
TOTAL	6.2%		TOTAL	51.7%

 

• It appears that while blacks have higher rates of current illicit drug use (8.2% compared to 6.1% for whites); they are significantly less likely to be current users of alcohol (39.8% compared to 55.3%)[7]

 

• In absolute numbers however, whites comprise 72% of all current illicit drug users.[8]

 

• Detailed Age Use Patterns (U.S.):

 

 

• First use of alcohol typically begins around the age 13; marijuana around 14. [9]

 

c) Education:

 

• Approximately 50% of young adults (26-34 years old) have experimented with illicit drugs, but current use is highest among those without a high school degree (9.8%) as compared to only 4.8% of those with a college degree.[10]

 

• There is a strong correlation between cigarette smoking and education: 50% of young adults (26-34) who did not complete high school smoked daily, compared to 15% of college graduates.[11]

 

• The higher level of education, the more likely was the current use of alcohol, although heavy drinking was more common among lower educated adults.[12]

 

• Crack cocaine and heroin tend to be disproportionately found in lower-income, lower education individuals, powder cocaine is more commonly used by higher-income, higher education individuals.[13]

 

4.      Experimentation among youth:

 

• The table below indicates the lifetime prevalence of drug use among 8^th, 10^th and 12^th graders, and contrasts with “past month” users,[14]indicating that approximately half of our youth who experiment with substances end up using on a regular basis, other half do not.

 

 

1999 Data	8th Grade Lifetime	8th Grade Past Month	10th Grade Lifetime	10th Grade Past Month	12th Grade Lifetime	12th Grade Past Month
Marijuana	22.0%	9.7%	40.9%	19.4%	49.7%	23.1%
Inhalants	19.7%	5.0%	17.0%	2.6%	15.4%	2.0%
Amphetamines	11.3%	3.3%	15.7%	5.0%	16.3%	4.5%
Alcohol	52.1%	24.0%	70.6%	40.0%	80.0%	51.0%

 

• The trend in Marijuana experimentation among teens has increased dramatically since 1991.  In 1991, 23.4% of 10^th graders had used marijuana in their lifetime, but 40.9% had tried marijuana in 1999. The trends in alcohol and cigarette experimentation have remained relatively constant.[15]

 

 

5.      Youth use trends:

 

• Regular drug use by youth (ages 12-17) decreased steadily since 1979 (16.5%  regular users) until 1993 (7.5% regular users), and has been increasing since then (1998: 12% current users).

 

6. Youth reasons for using/abusing drugs/alcohol:

 

• Among teenagers who binge drink, 39% say they drink alone; 58% drink when they are upset; 30% drink when they are bored; and 37% drink to feel high. [16]
• 56% of students in grades 5 through 12 say that alcohol advertising encourages them to drink.[17]
• 30% of children in grades four through six report having received “a lot” of pressure from their classmates to drink beer; 31% to try marijuana; and 34% to try cigarettes. [18]

 

7.  Addictions/dependency:

 

• The Indiana Department of Mental Health estimated in 1986 that approximately 8.3% of the Indiana adult population were in need of treatment for alcoholism or alcohol abuse, and another 1.7% were drug dependent in need of treatment.

 

• National studies estimate that approximately 7% of the adult population have problems with drinking alcohol, and half of those are alcoholics.[19]

 

• About 43% of US adults have been exposed to alcoholism in the family: they grew up with or married an alcoholic or problem drinker, or had a blood relative drinker.[20]

 

• People who begin drinking before age 15 are 4 times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who begin at age 21.[21]

 

8.  Nature vs. nurture:

 

The question of the causality of alcoholism or drug addiction has been hotly debated for well over 100 years. While much of the medical research is directed at the biological underpinnings of addictions, there is other research to indicate the importance of family, cultural and environmental learning factors.

 

• There is consensus that addictions appear to run in families: individuals with an alcoholic parent are as much as 6 times more likely to become alcoholic themselves.[22]

 

• However, where identical twin studies have been inconclusive, controlled studies of adopted infants from alcoholic parent (s) have shown such children are at much greater risk of becoming alcoholics in adulthood.[23] Indicating that some type of biological factors are determining the alcoholic outcome.

 

• Moreover, from another perspective, while one-third of all current alcoholics have at least one parent who was/is an alcoholic, two-thirds have no alcoholic parents. [24]

 

• Most research is now indicating a set of complex causalities regarding addictions and addictive behavior: a complex interplay of biological predispositions, and learned behaviors within family and cultural contexts.[25]

 

9. Effects of alcohol and drug abuse:

 

• Children living with a non-recovering alcoholic score lower on measures of family cohesion, intellectual-cultural orientation, active-recreational orientation, and independence. They also usually experience higher levels of conflict within the family, and have difficulty with school relationships and performance[26]
• Based on victims reports, 37% of rapes and sexual assaults involved alcohol use by the offender[27]
• 20% of suicide victims are alcoholic. [28]
• The leading cause of accidental deaths are alcohol related traffic fatalities (38% of all traffic fatalities).[29]
• Alcohol is a key factor in 68% of manslaughters, 62% of assaults, 54% of murders and attempted murders, 48% of robberies, and 44% of burglaries. [30]
• State welfare agencies indicate that substance abuse is one of the top problems exhibited by families in reported cases of child abuse and neglect.[31]

 

 10. Substance abuse among elderly:

 

• Between 10 and 12% of all individuals over age 65 have a drinking problem, as do 50% of all nursing home residents;[32]

 

• Widowers 75 and older have the highest alcoholism rate of any age group.[33]

 

• Approximately two-thirds of older alcoholics have a chronic problem usually with a family history of abuse; the other one-third begin drinking after age 60 and usually in response to stresses and losses associated with aging (this group tends to have more favorable reactions to treatment).[34]

 

• Use of illegal drugs is rare among the elderly, but they ingest staggering quantities of prescription medicine: 83% have prescriptions, 50% use potentially addictive sedatives like Valium and Librium.[35]