NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—Newark PMSA
Drug Abuse in the Newark Primary Metropolitan
Statistical Area
Allison S. Gertel-Rosenberg, M.S. 1
ABSTRACT
In this report, drug abuse indicators in the Newark
primary metropolitan statistical area (Newark
PMSA) are presented using substance abuse treatment
data, emergency department data, medical
examiner cases, and other information. Most primary
admissions (72.6 percent) in the first half of
2004 were for illicit drugs. Heroin accounted for
73.9 percent of all primary admissions for illicit
drugs in the Newark PMSA, compared with 10.9
percent for primary crack/cocaine and 11.3 percent
for primary marijuana use. Consistent with the
treatment data, emergency department reports of
heroin in the Newark PMSA accounted for the
largest proportion of drug reports. Heroin purity
remained high, at 61.3 percent in 2003. Between
October 2003 and September 2004, cocaine accounted
for 45.6 percent of items analyzed by
NFLIS, followed by heroin (34.7 percent) and marijuana
(10.2 percent).
INTRODUCTION
Area Description
The Newark primary metropolitan statistical area
(PMSA) consists of five counties: Essex, Morris,
Sussex, Union, and Warren. In 2003, there were an
estimated 2,069,188 residents in the PMSA, with 38
percent living in Essex County (which contains Newark
City), 26 percent in Union County, 23 percent in
Morris County, and the rest residing in the remaining
counties. According to the 2000 Census, the population
of the Newark PMSA is diverse in respect to
race: 66 percent are White, 22 percent are Black, and
4 percent are Asian. Hispanics account for 13 percent
of the PMSA population. There is also a wide variation
in racial/ethnic breakdowns for each county. In
Essex County, 45 percent of the population are White
and 41 percent are Black. Union County is 65 percent
White and 21 percent Black. By comparison, Morris
County is 87 percent White and 3 percent Black; Sussex
County is 96 percent White and 1 percent Black;
and Warren County is 95 percent White and 2 percent
Black. Hispanics account for 15 percent of the population
in Essex, 8 percent in Morris, 3 percent in Sussex,
20 percent in Union, and 4 percent in Warren.
The counties are also very diverse by socioeconomic
status. In the Newark PMSA as a whole, 5.8 percent
of families with children younger than 18 live below
the poverty level. For counties within the PMSA, the
poverty status for families with children younger than
18 is 18 percent in Essex, 3 percent in Morris, 4 percent
in Sussex, 9 percent in Union, and 5 percent in
Warren. These social, demographic, and economic
variations suggest substantial differences in drug use
behaviors of residents by county.
New Jersey is situated between major industrial markets
in New York and Pennsylvania and has been
referred to as the “crossroads of the east.” It is a
gateway State, with major interstate highways, roadways,
airports, seaports, and other infrastructures
capable of accommodating large amounts of passenger
and cargo traffic from both the eastern and western
parts of the United States. New Jersey can therefore
be considered an ideal strategic, as well as vulnerable,
corridor for the transportation of drug contraband
and illicit currency. 2
New Jersey has one of the highest concentrations of
pharmaceutical and biochemical manufacturing firms
in the country. According to the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA), the most prevalent sources of
diverted pharmaceutical drugs in New Jersey include
doctor shopping, prescription forgery, and organized
prescription rings. The forging of prescriptions is a
continuing problem among employees in the medical
field, who use their positions to gain access to blank
prescription pads. The most commonly diverted
pharmaceuticals are the benzodiazepines and opiates,
especially the hydrocodone products, with Percocet,
Percodan, Xanax, Dilaudid, Valium, and Vicodin
representing the most common brand name drugs
diverted. The DEA is also reporting an increase in the
diversion of OxyContin (oxycodone), both in Newark
and South Jersey, where it has become a particular
problem among teenagers and young adults.
1 The author is affiliated with the New Jersey Division of Addiction Services, Department of Human Services, Trenton, New Jersey.
2 DEA Briefs and Background State Fact Sheets. New Jersey 2004. .
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 145