NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

NFLIS between October 2003 and September 2004
(exhibit 6).
The most recently available mortality data indicate 149
heroin death mentions in 2002. The number of death
mentions was down from 177 reported in 2001, however,
and 179 reported in 2000. The slight downward
trend in death mentions in 2002 is consistent with recent
patterns in both treatment and ED data.
Heroin purity is still very high, but it decreased
somewhat in 2003 in the Newark PMSA. In 2001,
heroin was 70.5 percent pure, and in 2002, it was
71.4 percent pure. In 2003, however, heroin purity
dropped to 61.3 percent pure. The price per gram
between July and December 2004 was $25–$320
(exhibit 7). In 2003, despite the drop in heroin purity,
the Newark PMSA had the highest heroin purity coupled
with the lowest price among the 21 DAWN cities.
According to the DEA, almost all the heroin sold
in the Newark PMSA is South American.
Opiates Other Than Heroin
In the first half of 2004, primary treatment admissions
for “other opiates or synthetics” in Newark City
totaled six (0.3 percent of the admissions, excluding
alcohol admissions). The number was higher in the
PMSA—86 (1.4 percent of the admissions, excluding
alcohol). In 2003, figures for the city and PMSA,
respectively, were 0.2 and 1.3 percent. In the State as
a whole, primary admissions for other opiates in the
first half of 2004 totaled 679, or 3.4 percent of all
admissions, excluding alcohol. In 2003, the number
of primary admissions for other opiates totaled 1,049,
representing more than double the admissions reported
in 1997 (513). The biggest increase in the
number of other opiate admissions occurred between
2000 (592) and 2002 (1,124). In 2003, the last year of
full data for New Jersey, admissions reporting other
opiates as a primary, secondary, or tertiary drug of
abuse numbered 2,303 and accounted for nearly 6
percent of all drug admissions statewide. In the
TEDS data for 2003, 92 percent of the primary “other
opiate” admissions were White and 6 percent were
Black (exhibit 3). Only 5.5 percent of the primary
“other opiate” admissions were Hispanic. About 63
percent were male.
ED data show 153 reports of narcotic analgesics/combinations
between January and June 2004.
Reports of methadone account for a substantial proportion
of the total reports: 36.7 percent (n=56).
In 2002, there were 151 ME death mentions for narcotic
analgesic/combinations, representing the largest
number of death mentions for any drug. Although the
148
EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—Newark PMSA
number of mentions was down from 190 in 2001, the
number of mentions was more than twice that reported
in 2000 (75) and more than 3 times the number
in 1999 (44).
Marijuana
Primary marijuana treatment admissions represented
7.2 percent of all treatment admissions in Newark
City in the first half of 2004, compared with 9.1 percent
in the Newark PMSA and 12.1 percent in the
State as a whole. As a proportion of illicit drug treatment
admissions, marijuana accounted for 7.9 percent
in Newark City and 11.3 percent in the Newark
PMSA (exhibit 1) in the first half of 2004, both approximately
1 percentage point higher than in 2003
(exhibit 2).
Statewide primary marijuana admissions (excluding
alcohol) were more than twice the proportion of those
in Newark City (16.6 vs. 7.9 percent) and more than
5 percentage points higher than those in the Newark
PMSA (16.6 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively)
(exhibit 1). Statewide TEDS data for 2003 indicate
that 82 percent of primary marijuana admissions were
male, 55 percent were White, and 40 percent were
Black (exhibit 3). About 18 percent of primary marijuana
admissions statewide were Hispanic. Across
the State, approximately 50 percent of primary marijuana
admissions were younger than 21, and about 73
percent were younger than 26.
The number of marijuana ED reports between January
and June 2004 for all causes was 257. Approximately
58 percent of the marijuana reports were
made by individuals younger than 30. The three most
frequent chief complaints when presenting with a
marijuana report were other reasons (38 percent),
psychiatric condition (33 percent), and altered mental
status (21 percent).
Among the 2,760 items analyzed by NFLIS between
October 2003 and September 2004, marijuana accounted
for 10.2 percent (281 items) (exhibit 6).
Between July and December 2004, locally produced
marijuana sold in Newark for $5–$30 per bag (exhibit
7).
Benzodiazepines and Barbiturates
In an analysis run January 13, 2005, the DAWN Live!
system recorded 208 benzodiazepine ED reports for
all causes between January and June 2004 (exhibit 4).
There were also 20 barbiturates ED reports for all
causes.
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005