CEWG January 09 Full Report - National Institute on Drug Abuse

Section III. <strong>CEWG</strong> Area Update Briefs and International Presentations
district data available through 2007. Youth Risk
Behaviour Study data, also previously reported
to <strong>CEWG</strong> in June 2008, were from online reports
as of 06/04/2008. Poison Control System data
were provided by the CPCS for 2007 and <strong>January</strong>–
September 2008.Updates from other data sources
were not available for this report.
Drug Abuse Patterns and Trends in
Maine—Update: <strong>January</strong> 20<strong>09</strong>
Marcella Sorg, Ph.D., R.N., D-ABFA
For inquiries concerning this report, please contact
Marcella H. Sorg, Ph.D., R.N., D-ABFA, Director,
Rural Drug and Alcohol Research Program, Margaret
Chase Smith Policy Center, University of Maine,
Building 4, 5784 York Complex, Orono, ME 04469­
5784, Phone: 207–581–2596, Fax: 207–581–1266,
E-mail: marcella.sorg@umit.maine.edu.
Overview of Findings: This report updates
drug abuse indicators in Maine, arrests and seizures
through calendar year 2008, and deaths and
treatment admissions through the first half of
the year. Several drug categories showed mixed
or conflicting patterns. Most heroin indicators
declined in 2008, continuing a multi-year trend,
although seizures increased slightly. Cocaine
abuse, which had been growing strongly through
2007, declined across most indicators, with the
exception of a slight increase in cocaine powder
primary admissions through June 2008.
Decreases were seen for cocaine and crack arrests
and seizures, as well as for primary cocaine
powder admissions. The decreasing number of
cocaine-induced deaths during the first 6 months
of 2008 suggests a possible downturn for the year.
Marijuana indicators continued to be moderately
high, with arrests, seizures, and primary admission
levels stable or in gradual decline for the last
several years. Although the percentage of primary
marijuana admissions decreased in the first half of
2008, the number of admissions increased. Abuse
of prescription drugs, predominantly methadone,
oxycodone, and benzodiazepines, continued
at high and increasing levels; these drugs are
frequently used in combination with each other
or with alcohol. The percentage of deaths caused
by one or more prescription drugs in 2007 was
86 percent, rising to 95 percent in the first half of
2008, as the overall number of prescriptions written
statewide for Schedule II, III, and IV drugs
continued to rise. During the second half of 2007,
primary admissions for prescription drugs began
to exceed those for illicit drugs, a trend that continued
into the first half of 2008. Among narcotic
analgesics, seizures through 2008 for methadone
and buprenorphine were higher, as well as primary
treatment admissions for oxycodone and
methadone through the first half of 2008. Methadone-induced
deaths leveled off at 36 percent of
drug deaths, and benzodiazepine-induced deaths
rose to 26 percent through the first 6 months of
the year. The proportion of arrests for pharmaceuticals
increased from 21 to 29 percent through
2008, and pharmaceutical arrests dominated
other drug categories, exceeding the percentage of
cocaine arrests. Methamphetamine abuse indicators
were mixed, and the numbers were still quite
low. The majority of methamphetamine seizures
were tablets containing caffeine, some containing
MDMA as well. The numbers of MDMA seizures
and arrests have increased but remain low
in number. The proportion of MDMA treatment
admissions fell sharply in 2007 to nearly zero, and
has remained there through June 2008.
Updated Drug Trends and Emerging Patterns:
Heroin abuse remained a serious problem
but recent indicators have been stable or
decreasing. Heroin/morphine caused 13 percent
of <strong>January</strong>–June drug-induced deaths in 2008,
compared with 16 percent in 2007, continuing
to decline from a peak of 25 percent in 2005. Six
percent of 2008 arrests were for heroin, down
slightly from 7 percent in 2007. Heroin seizures
rose slightly between 2007 and 2008, from 7 to
8 percent. Primary heroin/morphine admissions
for the first half of 2008 were down to 13 percent,
continuing a decline since the peak of 22 percent
in the second half of 2005. Cocaine and prescription
narcotics remained the two leading types of
Proceedings of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, <strong>January</strong> 20<strong>09</strong> 51