For many in this country, what may be initially thought of as merely “recreational” drug and alcohol use may actually foretell the onset of larger, more chronic issues of addiction and addiction-related consequences. Residents of North Dakota are certainly no exception.
One of the commonly abused substances in ND is alcohol. On average, ND students report having more than 4 alcoholic drinks per week.2 Regular and heavy alcohol consumption not only comes with negative health effects but can also put you at risk of injury, prosecution, and other dangers, shown in statistics like those below:
- From 2014 to 2015, 12% of students in North Dakota reported that they had been taken advantage sexually while they were intoxicated.1
- 1 in 6 juvenile arrests in 2014 were related to alcohol.3
- Among adults, almost 25% of all arrests in the state in 2014 were for DUI violations,4 and almost 45% of all fatal crashes were alcohol-related.4
Illicit and prescription drug abuse are also major concerns for the state, with almost 15% of students using prescription drugs without a prescription.5 The abuse of these drugs, such as opioids like oxycodone and stimulants like Adderall, can be a slippery slope to using drugs like heroin and meth.
The North Dakota Attorney General’s Office has reported that, from 2010-2015, heroin-related drug violations increased from 4 to 177, while meth violations in ND jumped from 246 to 1,633.5 Meth use has also been steadily increasing amongst ND residents with numbers almost doubling from 2012 to 2015.5