Substance abuse touches many people across the United States. A drug conviction not only negatively impacts the person convicted of a crime, it also can harm family members and friends.
While no area of the country stays free of substance abuse, some areas have a higher rate of concern than other areas.
The ranking of metropolitan areas
American Addiction Centers compiled data to come up with estimates of substance abuse in 51 of the largest metro areas in the U.S. The organization looked at data on four areas of use:
- Heroin
- Cocaine
- Marijuana
- Methamphetamine
No particular region of the country stood out as exceptional, for either positive or negative results, but substance abuse touched all parts of the U.S. The survey estimated that Omaha, NE, had the highest rate of marijuana usage at 66.2% followed at 65% by Mesa, AZ.
Residents of Phoenix, AZ, used cocaine at the rate of just over 23%, the highest level in the study. Heroin use hit a high of 3.4% in both Omaha, NE, and Indianapolis, IN, while methamphetamine use hit a high of just over 15% in Phoenix.
The information on Texas cities
No cities in Texas made it into the top cities for substance abuse in the areas of marijuana, heroin and cocaine usage. Arlington, TX, did rank among the top cities for methamphetamine use with 13.4% of residents listed as using this drug presently or in the past.
El Paso, TX, made it into the top tier of cities for having the least amount of overall drug use. The study included statistics on seven Texas cities: Arlington, Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.
