Drug abuse is a daily struggle for a large number of individuals in the state of Arizona, with an approximated 9 percent of Arizona residents reporting past-month use of illicit drugs. The problem of drug abuse covers a very large spectrum of troubles and impacts numerous distinct age groups and backgrounds. Arizona is not only in the highest quintile of States for illicit drug dependence and abuse in the past year in people 12 and older, but in all age groups (which includes youth) for needing but not receiving treatment for illicit drug use. This is where drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities in Arizona can step in to help, and individuals having difficulties with addiction can experience the advantages of a drug rehab and alcohol rehabilitation program in the state.
Currently, prescription drug abuse is one of the worst drug problems that the state of Arizona is faced with. This is a problem in most states in the country, but the problem is particularly bad in the state of Arizona. Actually, Arizona is in the top ten of states for past-year illicit use of pain relievers among residents 12 and older, as well as illicit use of pain relievers among young adults. Even though prescription pain relievers are designed for individuals who are having difficulties with actual acute and chronic pain, Arizona residents are taking these powerful narcotic drugs recreationally to feel high. Not only is this an issue in terms of abuse and addiction, but Arizona citizens are losing their lives because of this type of abuse.
One of the added benefits of drug and alcohol treatment facilities in Arizona is that individuals can forego the consequence of losing their lives to prescription drug addiction, and make the decision to find help and receive helpful treatment for their issue. For example, instead of acquiring the help they needed for addiction, 301 individuals lost their lives in the state of Arizona in 2009 from prescription drug overdoses. Those who died had an average of four different types of drugs or abusive substances in their systems at the time of death. Of those who died of prescription drug overdose in Arizona in 2009, an estimated 95% had at least one indicator of substance abuse. The vast majority of these deaths, 75% to be exact, were unintentional deaths and not suicides. So these individuals could have benefitted from attending a drug treatment and alcohol rehabilitation center in Arizona, and gotten the treatment they required rather than losing their lives. But instead, over two times as many people died from overdosing on prescription drugs than those who died from overdose on illicit street drugs.
Pregnant mothers in particular can benefit from receiving treatment at a drug rehab and alcohol rehabilitation center in Arizona. Unfortunately, drug and alcohol abuse is a problem that a lot of pregnant mothers in the state struggle with. Statistics show that pregnant women in Arizona have the highest rate of alcohol and illicit drug use and the second highest rate of tobacco use in the entire nation. A survey which screened over 7,000 pregnant mothers in the state found that a quarter of them were actively smoking cigarettes, 26% were consuming alcohol, and over 10% were smoking marijuana. Even more tragic, is that over 200 of these women were actively abusing illicit drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine and opiates. Overall, over 36% of the pregnant women screened in Arizona tested positive for substance use, and 44% of the pregnant women tested positive for more than one substance.
Arizona is also faced with a severe issue of substance abuse among young people. For a state that ranks close to the worst for high school graduation rates, youth in particular can reap the benefits of attending a drug rehab and alcohol treatment program in Arizona. In particular, rates of prescription drug abuse, marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine abuse as well as binge drinking among youth are on the rise in Arizona and at a considerably higher rate than teen drug use nationally. Prescription drug abuse is of particular concern, where local police officials reported an increase of pill parties where young people get together and take part in an activity also known as "pharming." At these parties, teens will bring with them whatever medications they've stolen and dump them in a bowl, which they randomly pick out from for consumption to get high. Prescription drug use is about as prevalent as marijuana use among teens in Arizona, and teens are particularly fond of prescription pain killers which produce a high comparable to heroin and other opiates. Teens in Arizona are generally under the impression that these powerful prescription narcotics are safe because they're prescribed by a physician, not recognizing they are putting their health in really serious danger. Because of the extent of this problem in the state, several drug and alcohol treatment centers have emerged in Arizona geared at treating teen drug addiction.
Alcohol abuse is of particular concern among all age groups in the state of Arizona, and residents who abuse alcohol can benefit from the different drug and alcohol rehab facilities which are readily available in Arizona. To highlight this problem, over 17% of residents who were surveyed in 2009 admitted to binge drinking in the past 30 days. This obviously leads to many consequences, particularly when inebriated Arizona citizens take to the road. In 2009, law enforcement officers document that there were 15,234 arrests made in the state for driving under the influence of alcohol. In fact, a current survey discovered that 14% of Arizonans reported having driven after drinking in the past 60 days. As a result, these citizens decision to drive while under the influence of alcohol claimed 68 lives on the roads of Arizona in 2009.
All citizens of Arizona benefit from the drug treatment and alcohol rehab facilities available in Arizona, by taking advantage of the many treatment options available in the state. There are many non-profit organizations in Arizona which treat addiction on both an out-patient and residential treatment basis, as well as a variety of private drug and alcohol treatment facilities, many of which are tailored to treat all types of addiction. People who want to get help can take advantage of the wide variety of drug and alcohol treatment facilities in Arizona to recover from addiction and become fully rehabilitated.