NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

all reporting basically complete data (90 percent
or greater). All DAWN cases are reviewed for
quality control. Based on the review, cases may be
corrected or deleted. Therefore, the data reported
in this paper are subject to change. Data accessed
from DAWN Live! represent drug reports in drugrelated
visits. Reports exceed the number of visits
because a patient may report use of multiple drugs
(up to six drugs plus alcohol). The unweighted
data are not estimates for the Minneapolis/St. Paul
area. These data cannot be compared with data
from 2002 and before, and they cannot be used for
comparison with future DAWN data. Only
weighted data released by SAMHSA can be used
for trend analysis. A full description of the
DAWN system can be found at the DAWN Web
site .
• Treatment data are from addiction treatment
programs (residential, outpatient, extended care)
in the five-county metropolitan area as reported on
the Drug and Alcohol Abuse Normative Evaluation
System (DAANES) of the Minnesota Department
of Human Services through June 2004.
• Drug price data are from the National Drug Intelligence
Center, Narcotics Digest Weekly, Vol.
3, No. 52, December 28, 2004.
• Crime lab data for St. Paul are from the National
Forensic Laboratory Information System
(NFLIS). This system, which began in 1997, is
sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
and collects solid dosage drug analyses
conducted by State and local forensic laboratories
across the country on drugs seized by law enforcement.
Minnesota data on methamphetamine
labs are from the El Paso Intelligence Center
(EPIC), U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
• Student survey data on selected drugs of abuse
are from the 2001 and the 2004 Minnesota Student
Survey. Responses concerning drug use in
the past year are presented for high school seniors
in the 5-county metropolitan area, representing
14,140 respondents in 2001 and 16,156 in 2004.
• Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
and hepatitis C (HCV) data for 2003 were provided
by the Minnesota Department of Health.
DRUG ABUSE PATTERNS AND TRENDS
Cocaine/Crack
Accidental overdose deaths involving cocaine appear
stable, with 32 in Hennepin and 10 in Ramsey
EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—Minneapolis/St. Paul
County through September 2004. These increased
from 2002 to 2003 in Hennepin County (from 34 to
44). In Ramsey County, there were 10 such deaths in
2003 and 11 in 2002.
The unweighted data accessed through DAWN Live!
show that cocaine maintained a strong presence in
hospital emergency department data, outnumbering
reports involving any other illicit drug in 2004 (exhibit
1).
Admissions to addiction treatment programs with
cocaine as the primary substance problem declined
slightly. In 2004, 12.5 percent of treatment admissions
reported cocaine as the primary substance problem,
compared with 13.3 percent in 2003. Most cocaine
admissions were for crack cocaine; nearly onethird
were women; and 48.4 percent were African-
American. Additional patient characteristics appear
in exhibit 2.
Cocaine generally sold for $70–$150 per gram, $200
per “eight-ball” (one-eighth ounce), $700–$2,000 per
ounce, and $18,000–$28,000 per kilogram (exhibit
3). The price of a rock of crack was $15–$25. Upward
variations in price were attributed to higher
purity products. The street-level, retail distribution of
crack cocaine remained gang-involved in 2004. Cocaine
accounted for 22 percent of the drug seizures
reported to NFLIS in St. Paul (exhibit 4).
Cocaine use among metropolitan area students was
relatively unchanged from 2001 to 2004 according to
the Minnesota Student Survey data. Past-year cocaine
use was reported by 6.1 percent of high school seniors
in 2004, compared with 5.5 percent in 2001 (exhibit
5).
Heroin
Opiate-related deaths, mostly accidental heroin overdoses,
continued at heightened levels, and outnumbered
cocaine-related deaths in both counties since
2001. Hennepin County reported 50 opiate-related
deaths in 2003 and 41 in 2004 through September. In
Ramsey County, 19 such deaths were reported in
2003 and 16 were reported through September 2004.
Hospital ED reports of heroin nearly doubled from
2000 to 2002. In the preliminary unweighted data
accessed through DAWN Live! for 2004, there were
647 heroin-related ED reports, ranking fourth among
illicit drug cases (exhibit 1).
Patients in treatment for heroin tended to be older
than in the past. None was younger than 18 in 2004
(exhibit 2). The most common route of administra-
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 137