Drugs in the United States

In the United States, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defined the word "drug" as an "article intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals" and those "(other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals."[2] Consistent with that definition, the U.S. separately defines narcotic drugs and controlled substances, which may include non-drugs, and explicitly excludes tobacco, caffeine and alcoholic beverages.[3]

Detroit police inspecting equipment found in a clandestine brewery during the Prohibition era
US yearly overdose deaths, and the drugs involved. Among the more than 70,200 deaths estimated in 2017, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and synthetic opioids (28,466 deaths).[1]

Federal drug policy

War on drugs

As part of the "War on drugs", the U.S. gives hundreds of millions of dollars per year of military aid to Colombia, used to combat guerrilla groups such as FARC, involved in narcotics trafficking. Colin Powell is seen here visiting Colombia in 2006 in support of Plan Colombia.

The War on drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, and the stated aim to define and reduce the illegal drug trade.[4][5] This initiative includes a set of drug policies of the United States that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of illegal psychoactive drugs. The term "War on Drugs" was first used by President Richard Nixon in 1971.

Drug courts

The first Drug court in the United States took shape in Miami-Dade County, Florida in 1989 as a response to the growing crack-cocaine usage in the city. Chief Judge Gerald Wetherington, Judge Herbert Klein, then State Attorney Janet Reno and Public Defender Bennett Brummer designed the court for nonviolent offenders to receive treatment. This model of court system quickly became a popular method for dealing with an ever increasing number of drug offenders. Between 1984 and 1999, the number of defendants charged with a drug offense in the Federal courts increased 3% annually, from 11,854 to 29,306. By 1999 there were 472 Drug Courts in the nation and by 2005 that number had increased to 1262 with another 575 Drug Courts in the planning stages; currently all 50 states have working Drug Courts. There are currently about 120,000 people treated annually in Drug Courts, though an estimated 1.5 million eligible people are currently before the courts. There are currently more than 2,400 Drug Courts operating throughout the United States.

Pharmacological drugs

Doping in sports

Doping is the taking of performance-enhancing drugs, generally for sporting activities. Doping has been detected in many sporting codes, especially baseball and football.

Substance Athlete population Percentage of athletes using substance[6]
Any substance banned by WADA Elite athletes across sports (positive drug tests) 2% over past year
Anabolic steroids Professional football players (self report) 9% used at some point in career
Opiates Professional football players (self report) 52% used at some point in career (71% of those misused at some point in career)
Smokeless tobacco Professional basketball players (self report) 35%–40% over past year
Professional football players (self report) 20%–30% over past year

Major League Baseball

The Mitchell Report

In December 2007 US Senator George Mitchell released Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball asked Mitchell to conduct an independent investigation to see how bad steroid use was in baseball. In the report Mitchell covers many topics and he interviewed over 700 witnesses. He covers the effects of steroids on the human body. He also touches on human growth hormone effects. He reports on baseball's drug testing policies before 2002 and the newer policies after 2002. Mitchell also named 86 players in the report that had some kind of connection to steroids. Among those named were: Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, and Eric Gagne. To finish his report, Mitchell made suggestions to the Commissioner of Baseball about drug testing and violations of the drug testing policies. Mitchell also reported that he would provide evidence to support the allegations made against such players and would give them the opportunity to meet with him and give them a fair chance to defend themselves against the allegations. The report also includes a paper trail of evidence that states, "Former Mets club house attendant, Kirk Randomski sent performing enhancement drugs to the players mentioned in the report." Quinn, T.J. and Thompson, Teri Daily News Sports Writers [New York, N.Y.] CT. (2007):66[7][8]

Recreational drugs by type

Alcohol

Cigarette smokers as a percentage of the population for the United States as compared with the Netherlands, Norway, Japan, and Finland

Cannabis

Cocaine

Cocaine is the second most popular illegal recreational drug in the United States behind cannabis,[9] and the U.S. is the world's largest consumer of cocaine.[10]

Methamphetamine

Psilocybin

Tobacco

Drug use and deaths per state

StatePopulation (2010)Drug Users (2010)Drug Deaths (Total 2010)Drug Deaths (per 100,000)Federal Grants (2010)Grant/Drug User
 Alabama4,779,73606.73%[11]55412$80,040,503$248.82
 Alaska710,23111.79%[12]7511$30,760,934$367.36
 Arizona6,392,01708.95%[13]98115.5$138,524,069$242.36
 Arkansas2,915,91807.96%[14]32611.5$47,138,163$203.09
 California37,253,95609.07%[15]417811.4$832,107,905$246.26
 Colorado5,029,19611.72%[16]74715.4$111,188,470$188.64
 Connecticut3,574,09708.23%[17]44412.7$103,493,029$351.84
 Delaware897,93409.14%[18]10211.8$24,161,839$294.40
 Florida18,801,31007.80%[19]293616.1$338,129,029$230.57
 Georgia (U.S. state)9,687,65307.32%[20]104310.6$321,114,660$452.83
 Hawaii1,360,30109.92%[21]14211.1$37,176,146$275.50
 Idaho1,567,58208.00%[22]1338.9$21,076,027$168.06
 Illinois12,830,63207.17%[23]12399.6$234,968,808$255.41
 Indiana6,483,80208.79%[24]82713.0$91,020,232$159.71
 Iowa3,046,35504.08%[25]2117.1$58,962,185$474.39
 Kansas2,853,11806.77%[26]29410.6$40,234,098$208.30
 Kentucky4,339,36708.41%[27]72217$100,547,625$275.52
 Louisiana4,533,37207.16%[28]86220.1$80,230,847$247.18
 Maine1,328,36109.09%[29]16112.2$36,320,286$300.79
 Maryland5,773,55207.29%[30]80712.7$192,136,722$456.50
 Massachusetts6,547,62908.87%[31]100315.6$245,061,344$421.96
 Michigan9,883,64008.95%[32]152415.3$243,556,706$275.33
 Minnesota5,303,92508.24%[33]3596.9$95,867,509$219.35
 Mississippi2,967,29706.39%[34]33411.4$50,554,343$266.62
 Missouri5,988,92707.38%[35]73012.4$123,020,244$278.34
 Montana989,41510.02%[36]13213.8$28,332,837$285.79
 Nebraska1,826,34106.43%[37]925.2$34,675,170$295.27
 Nevada2,700,55109.35%[38]51520.1$46,367,799$183.63
 New Hampshire1,316,47012.15%[39]17213.0$55,388,743$346.29
 New Jersey8,791,89406.42%[40]7979.2$113,795,702$201.61
 New Mexico2,059,17910.07%[41]44712.8$150,896,974$727.71
 New York19,378,10209.82%[42]17979.2$1,875,136,099$985.39
 North Carolina9,535,48308.88%[43]122313.0$403,912,656$477.01
 North Dakota672,59105.3%[44]284.3$36,344,108$1,019.55
 Ohio11,536,50407.61%[45]169114.7$207,925,242$236.84
 Oklahoma3,751,35108.09%[46]68719$67,359,062$221.95
 Oregon3,831,07412.80%[47]56415.1$104,298,167$212.69
 Pennsylvania12,702,37906.57%[48]181214.6$283,229,043$339.38
 Rhode Island1,052,56713.34%[49]14213.4$43,604,718$310.55
 South Carolina4,625,36406.70%[50]58413.2$77,790,340$251.02
 South Dakota814,18006.28%[51]344.3$31,840,106$622.72
 Tennessee6,346,10508.22%[52]103516.8$107,211,391$205.52
 Texas25,145,56106.26%[53]23439.8$384,444,836$244.23
 Utah2,763,88506.24%[54]54620.6$47,059,651$272.86
 Vermont625,74113.73%[55]579.2$58,913,913$685.73
 Virginia8,001,02407.33%[56]7139.2$173,221,243$295.36
 Washington6,724,54009.59%[57]100315.5$130,527,165$202.40
 West Virginia1,852,99406.79%[58]40522.4$45,059,469$358.13
 Wisconsin5,686,98608.67%[59]63911.4$107,259,369$217.54
 Wyoming563,62606.82%[60]6813$12,483,581$324.76
 United States308,143,81508.11%3826012.4$8,304,469,106$332.19

See also

References

  1. Overdose Death Rates. By National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
  2. "Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act" U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved on 24 September 2007.
  3. "21 USC Sec. 802." New York city has seen a significant amount of drug use, coupled with an immigration crisis and a new law where bail is no longer necessary for drug offenders, putting them right back on the street further increasing drug consumption. Archived 2009-08-31 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved on 24 September 2007.
  4. Cockburn and St. Clair, 1998: Chapter 14
  5. Bullington, Bruce; Alan A. Block (March 1990). "A Trojan horse: Anti-communism and the war on drugs". Crime, Law and Social Change. Springer Netherlands. 14 (1): 39–55. doi:10.1007/BF00728225. ISSN 1573-0751.
  6. Reardon, Claudia (2014). "Drug Abuse in Athletes". Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation. 5: 95–105. doi:10.2147/SAR.S53784. PMC 4140700. PMID 25187752.
  7. "Files.mlb.com" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  8. "Sports.espn.go.com". Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  9. "erowid.org". Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  10. "Field Listing – Illicit drugs (by country)". Cia.gov. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2011-01-15.
  11. Alabama Drug Control Update
  12. Alaska Drug Control Update
  13. Arizona Drug Control Update
  14. Arkansas Drug control Update
  15. California Drug Control Update
  16. Colorado Drug Control Update
  17. Connecticut Drug Control Update
  18. Delaware Drug Control Update
  19. Florida Drug Control Update
  20. Georgia Drug Control Update
  21. Hawaii Drug Control Update
  22. Idaho Drug Control Update
  23. Illinois Drug Control Update
  24. Indiana Drug Control Update
  25. Iowa Drug Control Update
  26. Kansas Drug Control Update
  27. Kentucky Drug Control Update
  28. Louisiana Drug Control Update
  29. Maine Drug Control Update Archived September 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  30. Maryland Drug Control Update
  31. Massachusetts Drug Control Update
  32. Michigan Drug Control Update Archived January 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  33. Minnesota Drug Control Update
  34. Mississippi Drug Control Update
  35. Missouri Drug Control Update
  36. Montana Drug Control Update
  37. Nebraska Drug Control Update
  38. Nevada Drug Control Update
  39. New Hampshire Drug Control Update
  40. New Jersey Drug Control Update
  41. New Mexico Drug Control Update
  42. New York Drug Control Update
  43. North Carolina Drug Control Update
  44. North Dakota Drug Control Update
  45. Ohio Drug Control Update
  46. Oklahoma Drug Control Update
  47. Oregon Drug Control Update
  48. Pennsylvania Drug Control Update
  49. Rhode Island Drug Control Update
  50. South Carolina Drug Control Update
  51. South Dakota Drug Control Update
  52. Tennessee Drug Control Update
  53. Texas Drug Control Update
  54. Utah Drug Control Update
  55. Vermont Drug Control Update
  56. Virginia Drug Control Update
  57. Washington Drug Control Update
  58. West Virginia Drug Control Update
  59. Wisconsin Drug Control Update
  60. Wyoming Drug Control Update

Further reading

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