Drug abuse has been an issue in the US for decades, yet despite efforts to curb it, substance use is still prevalent nationwide. According to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020, approximately 40 million persons aged 12 years and older had a substance use disorder in the past year. Also, there were nearly 104,000 drug overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending in December 2023, according to the CDC.
To determine where drug abuse is most pronounced in the US, a new report from WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 20 key metrics, including arrest and overdose rates and opioid prescription use. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the biggest drug issue.