Drug Use Varies Depending on Your Region

Lucas County in northwestern Ohio borders with Michigan. Its county seat and largest city is Toledo. It’s also suffering from an epidemic of heroin use that is far above the national average. Local law enforcement and drug treatment professionals struggle with the reasons why.



Lucas County is not alone in trying to address a drug problem that exists without a proper explanation. Asking Why? Is one of the main activities among drug researchers whose job is to discover the causes of drug use. A recent article1 in the Huffingon Post included maps showing regional drug use involving various factors.


A Few Interesting Facts Leap Out
More people smoke marijuana along the west coast (Washington, Oregon, California) and in the northeast (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts.)


More Are Dying From Drug Use
A big switch happened around the turn of the century: More people began dying from drug use rather than from drinking.

Heroin and opiate use are especially prevalent in the northeast.

Several states in the midwest (Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee) have more meth labs (and meth lab “incidents.”)


Regional Drug Use Explained
Some regional drug use can be easily explained. Alcohol consumption will be higher in cities with universities, as college students assume their adult lives by getting drunk and taking inappropriate photos of themselves to post on Instagram. Pot smoking will be higher in states where recreational marijuana use has been legalized. Higher drug use of all kinds can be expected along routes where drug smuggling crosses borders and makes its way to large cities.

However, the question facing law enforcement and drug treatment specialists is how do particular types of drugs become dominant in certain areas, when there’s no logical explanation? Lucas County and the city of Toledo struggle to find answers to this question. Heroin use here continues to rise, while nationally heroin use has leveled off. Availability has been cited as one source, but the “chicken and the egg” paradox arises – Is heroin more readily available because of increased demand? Or is heroin use higher because it’s so readily available?


Finding The Answers To How And Why?
Researchers continue their work in this area, struggling to find the causes for mysterious regional drug use variability. Finding the answer to these questions may provide the answer to how and why drug use begins everywhere.