NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

ment of Health and Senior Services, Division of
AIDS Prevention and Control, HIV/AIDS Surveillance
Program. Data on the State, Newark
PMSA, and Newark City compiled as of June 30,
2004, are used in this report.
DRUG ABUSE PATTERNS AND TRENDS
Cocaine/Crack
In preliminary data for January through June 2004,
primary cocaine/crack treatment admissions accounted
for 6.8 percent of all admissions in Newark
City (compared to 6.1 percent in 2003) and for 7.4
percent of admissions for illicit drugs (i.e., excluding
alcohol, compared to 6.6 percent in 2003) (exhibits 1
and 2). Approximately 74 percent of the cocaine admissions
in the first half of 2004 were for abuse of
crack cocaine.
In the Newark PMSA, the proportion of primary
crack/cocaine admissions (excluding alcohol) was
somewhat higher than in the city—10.9 percent in the
first half of 2004, up slightly from 9.8 percent in
2003. The proportion of crack/cocaine admissions
among all admissions was higher in the PMSA as
well: 7.8 percent in 2003 and 8.8 percent in 2004. In
the first half of 2004, crack accounted for 63.7 percent
of cocaine admissions in the PMSA, up slightly
from 62.3 percent in 2003.
The proportion of primary cocaine/crack admissions
(excluding alcohol) statewide decreased slightly from
15.6 percent in 2003 to 14.7 percent in the first half
of 2004. In 2004, the proportion of statewide primary
crack/cocaine admissions was much higher than the
proportion for such admissions reported in Newark
City and almost 4 percentage points higher than in
the PMSA (exhibit 1). Admissions for crack abuse
accounted for more than 62 percent of the primary
cocaine admissions statewide. TEDS data for the
State for 2003 show crack admissions were somewhat
more likely to be Black than White (50 vs. 47
percent) and male rather than female (60 vs. 40 percent)
(exhibit 3). Admissions for primary abuse of
powder cocaine, however, were substantially more
likely to be White than Black (71 vs. 25 percent) and
male rather than female (72 versus 28 percent).
In January through June 2004, cocaine ranked second
to heroin in the number of ED reports in the Newark
PMSA (exhibit 4). The preliminary unweighted data
for 2004 accessed from the DAWN Live! system on
January 13, 2005, indicate 662 cocaine ED reports
for all causes. Approximately 71 percent of the cocaine
ED reports were for patients who were Black
(exhibit 5), and 84 percent represented clients age 30
EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—Newark PMSA
and older. Psychiatric conditions were the most frequently
cited reason for visiting the ED (45 percent),
followed by other reasons (22 percent) and altered
mental status (16 percent).
The most recently available mortality data indicated
127 cocaine/crack-related deaths in 2002.
Between October 2003 and September 2004, cocaine/crack
accounted for 45.6 percent of the 2,760
items analyzed by NFLIS, the highest proportion for
any drug (exhibit 6).
Between July and December 2004, the retail price for
powder cocaine in Newark was $9–$100 per gram;
crack sold for $20–$100 per gram (exhibit 7).
Heroin
As a proportion of illicit drug treatment admissions,
primary heroin accounted for 82.6 percent in Newark
City in the first half of 2004, which was lower than
the 85.4 percent in 2003 (exhibits 1 and 2). In the
Newark PMSA, primary heroin admissions accounted
for 73.9 percent of illicit drug admissions in
the first half of 2004, slightly lower than the 77.1
percent in 2003, and for 59.2 percent of all treatment
admissions (including alcohol).
Primary heroin admissions predominated across the
State in the first half of 2004, accounting for 60.8
percent of all admissions for drugs other than alcohol
(exhibit 1). This is down from 64.2 percent in 2003
(exhibit 2) and represents the second decrease in the
proportion of primary heroin admissions statewide
since 1996. TEDS data for 2003 indicate that, statewide,
54.6 percent of primary heroin admissions were
White and 39.2 percent were Black (exhibit 3). About
17.3 percent were Hispanic. Primary heroin users
were also predominately male (65.7 percent).
The unweighted data accessed from DAWN Live!
show that the number of ED reports for heroin in
2004 continued to be higher than the number of reports
for other single drugs, at 803 reports between
January and June 2004. Of the 803 heroin ED reports,
51 percent were for male patients, 65 percent were
for patients who were Black (exhibit 5), and 83 percent
were for patients age 30 and older. A psychiatric
condition was the most frequently cited reason for
contacting the ED (36 percent), followed by other
reasons (23 percent) and seeking detoxification (22
percent).
Although heroin is the leading drug among treatment
admissions and ED reports in Newark, it accounted
for only 34.7 percent of the 2,760 items analyzed by
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 147