Cocaine Treatment Down in Minnesota
In Minnesota, fewer patients admitted to substance-abuse treatment programs reported cocaine as their primary substance problem in 2009, according to a report on drug abuse trends by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
The report found that cocaine was the primary substance problem for only 6.4 percent of total treatment admissions during the first half of 2009, compared with 9.9 percent in all of 2008, 11.6 percent in 2007, and 13.5 percent in 2000.
"This continues a gradual trend that began in 2000 regarding fewer cocaine-related treatment admissions," said Carol Falkowski, DHS Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division director and author of the report. Most cocaine admissions were for crack cocaine; 70 percent of the patients were age 35 or older and 49 percent were African American.
Treatment admissions for both heroin and other opiates steadily increased since 2000. Yet in the first half of 2009, heroin-related admissions leveled off, accounting for 6.5 percent of total treatment admissions compared with 6.7 percent in 2008 but up from 3.1 percent in 2000.
Admissions involving other opiates, however, continued a steady, upward trend, accounting for 7.5 percent of total admissions during the first half of 2009, compared with 6.2 percent in 2008, 3.7 percent in 2006 and 1.4 percent in 2000.
For the most part, these admissions involved the non-medical use of prescription pain medications. Among those patients admitted to treatment for other opiates, 46 percent were women and oral was the primary route of administration for 74 percent.
