NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIOLOGIC ...

EPIDEMIOLOGIC TRENDS IN DRUG ABUSE—Phoenix and Arizona
Drug Abuse Trends in Phoenix and Arizona
Ilene L. Dode, Ph.D. 1
ABSTRACT
During fiscal year 2004, 36,375 adults and children
received treatment in the Arizona Department of
Health Services behavioral health system for substance
use, abuse, or dependence. Of this total, 66
percent were served through the AHCCCS (Medicaid)
program. Cocaine/crack cocaine continues to
be readily available in Phoenix. A new strain of
coca plant has reportedly been developed that will
yield up to four times more cocaine. Law enforcement
agencies report an increase in the demand for
heroin the last two quarters. Heroin purity ranged
from 42 to 85 percent. With higher purities, some
users may now snort or smoke the purer form of
heroin. Prices for most quantities of heroin decreased
during the last two quarters. Law enforcement
continues to investigate Internet pharmacies
and physicians. Marijuana continues to be widely
available throughout Arizona. In FY 2004, 21 percent
of Arizona treatment admissions were for
methamphetamine use/abuse, compared to 11 percent
in FY 2002. ‘Quick Zip’ is unwashed, or not
fully processed, methamphetamine.
INTRODUCTION
Area Description
The Valley of the Sun covers more than 400 square
miles. The thriving Phoenix metropolitan area encompasses
more than 20 communities, including Chandler,
Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and
Tempe. The Census Bureau’s 2003 estimate shows
that Maricopa County has 3.34 million people, compared
to 2.86 million people in 1998. The population is
78.6 White, 3.8 percent Black/African-American, 2.6
percent Asian, 1.9 percent Native American, and 13.2
percent “other.” Hispanic/Latinos represent 28.1 percent
of the total for two or more races.
Author Lawrence Clark Powell captured the essence
of the Nation’s sixth-largest State when he said, “One
has only to look down from above to see that Arizona
is a deeply wrinkled old land of interminable mountains,
river valleys and desert plains. The sight of
running water is rare. Dryness is obvious.” In addition
to its aridness, the land is also characterized by
the dominance of public land ownership. Federal,
1 1The The author is affiliated affiliated with with EMPACT–Suicide EMPACT–Suicide Prevention Prevention Center, Phoenix, Phoenix, Arizona.
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State, and tribal governments own more than 80 percent
of Arizona.
Arizona ranks 18th in population (5,743,834) according
to 2003 Census Bureau estimates. It is the eighthmost
urban State. Arizona is sixth in the percentage of
residents who speak a language other than English at
home. Arizona is younger than the Nation as a whole,
with a median age of 34.2, compared with 35.3 nationally.
The median price for an existing home in 2003
was $152,800, compared to $574,300 in San Francisco.
The U.S. median price was $172,200. Arizona
(54.3 percent) ranked second behind Nevada (75.1
percent) for job growth for 1990–2003 according to
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Crime is a critical issue for metropolitan Phoenix and
Tucson, compared with the other 300 U.S. metropolitan
areas ranked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI). According to the FBI, Arizona had the
highest rate of serious crime of any State. Tucson had
a rate of 7,699.9 crimes per 100,000 population,
ranking second in total crime in 2003.
In 2003, Arizona ranked 10th among States in the
percentage of residents without health insurance and
4th in the number of low-income children without
health insurance. Just over 17 percent of Arizonans
lack insurance.
Data Sources
This report is based on the most recent available data
obtained from the following sources:
• Drug-induced and drug-related death data
were provided by the Maricopa County Medical
Examiner (ME) Office for January 1993–October
2003. All 2003 data are estimated because ME
data for July and August 2003 were not available.
• Emergency department (ED) drug data were
accessed from the Drug Abuse Warning Network
(DAWN) Live!, a restricted-access online
query system administered by the Office of Applied
Studies (OAS), Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), for
2003 and 2004. The 2003 data were accessed on
December 31, 2004; the 2004 data were accessed
on January 18, 2005. In the Phoenix metropolitan
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, Vol. II, January 2005