New York Drug Abuse Statistics

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Information and Statistics for New York State

New York is the second most heavily populated State in the Nation with 19 million residents representing a wide range of racial, ethnic, social, and economic groups. Substance abuse and mental health treatment services in New York are operated by the Department of Mental Hygiene (DMH). The Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) is an independent agency of the DMH. OASAS is responsible for the development and management of the State\s policy on substance dependence. It provides services directly to clients through a statewide system of 13 Addiction Treatment Centers (ATCs), as well as through the regulation and oversight of other licensed substance abuse prevention and treatment services. OASAS coordinates substance dependence resources and strategies with other State agencies in areas that include criminal justice, health care, and public assistance.

In 2003-2004, OASAS had a workforce of 951, of which 58 percent provided clinical treatment services through the ATCs. The ATCs serve approximately 8,850 clients annually. The average daily client enrollment in the State\'s licensed chemical dependence treatment and rehabilitation system is 123,000, with services provided by approximately 1,200 licensed treatment providers and 400 prevention providers. In 2002, there were 312,173 clients who received substance abuse treatment services in the State of New York.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funding for substance abuse prevention and addiction treatment in New York State includes a Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Performance Partnership block grant for FY 2002-2003 for $116 million; SAMHSA discretionary funding for substance abuse prevention was $5.1 million; and funding for substance abuse treatment was $20 million. Therefore, total New York State substance abuse funds from SAMHSA in FY 2002-2003 were $141.1 million.7 According to the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD), in FY 1999, New York State spent a total of $817.4 million on alcohol and other drug services.

Alcohol Use

An estimated 7 million adults (51.4 percent) had used alcohol in the past month, 2.8 million adults (20.6 percent) were binge drinkers, and 779,000 (5.8 percent) were heavy alcohol users. Almost 3.4 percent had abused alcohol, and 2.8 percent met the criteria for alcohol dependence. Among racial/ethnic categories, non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics had similar high prevalence rates for binge alcohol use (22.4 and 21.4 percent, respectively). Non-Hispanic whites had the highest prevalence of heavy alcohol use (6.5 percent), alcohol abuse (3.7 percent), and alcohol dependence (2.9 percent). Non-Hispanic blacks had the second highest prevalence of past month heavy alcohol use (5.2 percent), and Hispanics had the second highest prevalence of past month alcohol abuse (3.6 percent) and alcohol dependence (2.5 percent). Among all sociodemographic groups, those aged 18 to 25 and those who had never been married had the highest rates of binge alcohol use, heavy alcohol use, alcohol abuse, and alcohol dependence.

Illicit Drug Use

1.8 million New York State adults (13.0 percent) reported using illicit drugs in the past year. Marijuana and hashish were the most commonly used drugs, reported by 1.4 million persons (10.0 percent), followed by the nonmedical use of prescription drugs, which was reported by 570,000 persons (4.2 percent). About 2.1 percent of adult residents reported using cocaine, and 2.8 percent used other types of drugs, including heroin, hallucinogens, and inhalants in the past year. The highest prevalence rates of any illicit drug use were found among adults aged 18 to 25 (36.9 percent) and those who had never been married (30.2 percent). Compared with those having health insurance, those with no coverage had significantly higher rates of any illicit drug use, marijuana/hashish use, and nonmedical use of prescription medication. An estimated 5.9 percent of those aged 18 to 25, 4.6 percent of those who had never been married, 4.6 percent of those who had received government assistance, and 4.0 percent of Hispanics met the criteria for drug dependence. Compared with the Buffalo-Niagara Falls MSA, the New York MSA had higher rates of all drug use categories except the nonmedical use of prescription-type psychotherapeutics and other illicit drugs.

Alcohol or Illicit Drug Dependence or Abuse, Perceived Treatment Need, and Receipt of Substance Abuse Treatment

An estimated 1.1 million New York State adults (8.0 percent) were dependent on or abused alcohol or illicit drugs in the past year. Only 204,000 adults (1.5 percent) received treatment for an alcohol or illicit drug problem in the past year, and only 47,000 (0.3 percent) of those who did not receive addiction treatment in New York perceived a need for treatment.

Among age groups, those aged 18 to 25 had the highest rates of alcohol or illicit drug dependence or abuse (23.6 percent), as well as the highest rate of unmet need for treatment (22.0 percent). High rates of alcohol or illicit drug dependence and abuse and high rates of unmet need for treatment also were reported by those with some college (11.6 and 10.5 percent, respectively) and those who had never married (18.0 and 16.2 percent, respectively). The rates of alcohol or illicit drug dependence and abuse and rates of unmet need for treatment were higher among those who had received Medicaid/CHIP (14.0 and 10.6 percent, respectively) and those with no insurance coverage (10.2 and 10.1 percent, respectively) than among those in other categories of health insurance. These rates also were higher among those who had received government assistance (13.2 and 10.1 percent, respectively) than those who had not received government assistance. Receipt of treatment for alcohol or illicit drugs was more prevalent among those who had received government assistance (5.2 percent), Hispanics (3.5 percent), and those with incomes of less than $20,000 (3.3 percent) than other groups. Receipt of treatment for alcohol or illicit drugs was higher in the New York MSA than in the other MSAs.

 New York and the Nation as a Whole

This report provides population survey-based estimates of the prevalence and treatment of adult substance use and abuse in the State of New York. Relative to adults aged 18 or older in the Nation as a whole, New York State adult residents were not significantly different on any substance use or mental health measure.

This report has identified several findings that may be important for State decision makers. Sociodemographic groups with the highest prevalence rates of substance use and abuse in New York that may be targeted for further intervention and programmatic resource allocation include persons who are single young adults, those with less than a college education, and those with no health insurance coverage. Indeed, given the overlap between these classifications, these characteristics may refer to the same group of high-risk individuals. Receipt of government assistance may facilitate entry into substance abuse treatment in this high-risk population. Significant differences among the State\'s MSAs included higher rates of illicit drug use and substance abuse treatment in the New York MSA than the other MSAs. Further investigation of county or MSA differences should control for differences in their demographic distributions.

This study of New York drug abuse statistics was conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration\'s Office of Applied Studies.

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