NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

Benzodiazepines
The unweighted data from DAWN Live! show that
ED reports of benzodiazepines totaled 413 in the first
half of 2004.
Benzodiazepines accounted for 1 percent of the items
analyzed by NFLIS in FY 2004 (exhibit 5). Of the 39
benzodiazepine-type items, 24 (61.5 percent) were
alprazolam.
Alcohol
Alcohol abuse is a serious problem in New Orleans,
as it is in many cities and towns in the United States.
Alcohol and drugs are often used together, also a
common pattern across the Nation.
In Orleans Parish, primary alcohol admissions accounted
for nearly 19 percent of all admissions in FY
2004 (exhibit 2). Primary alcohol admissions in eight
other parishes in 2004 ranged from a low of 25 per-
EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—New Orleans
cent in St. Tammany Parish to a high of 41 percent in
Bossier Parish (exhibit 3).
Deaths
There were 147 homicides in the city of New Orleans
from July 2004 to December 2004; 110 (75 percent)
were drug-related. Methadone and cocaine were the
drugs most frequently cited.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES RELATED TO DRUG ABUSE
In the third quarter of 2004, there were 7,393 persons
living with HIV or AIDS in the New Orleans metropolitan
area. Of the 4,761 for whom exposure risk was
known, 16.4 percent—502 men and 277 women—
were exposed through injection drug use. Another 8.2
percent of the exposed cases were men who have sex
with men and inject drugs. In addition, approximately
18 percent of the cases (634 women and 238 men)
were exposed through heterosexual contact.
For inquiries concerning this report, please contact Gail Thornton-Collins, New Orleans Health Department, 2025 Canal Street, Suite 200, New
Orleans, LA 70112, Phone:(504) 528-1912, E-mail .
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005 159