New DAWN data shows rise of methamphetamine

For the first time since 2011, the field has seen Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) data. It's not complete, the way it used to be when it was when it was fully funded, but it's something. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality released the first report and drug profiles from its reinstated Drug Abuse Warning Network. It abstracted data from 49 hospitals and shows, via unweighted data, trends in methamphetamine, marijuana, alcohol, heroin and nonmedical use of prescription opioids. “Among the 49 currently participating DAWN hospitals, the proportion of emergency department [ED] visits attributable to substance use, illicit or otherwise, was 4.6% during the period April 1, 2019 to October 15, 2020,” the report noted. “This proportion was somewhat higher, at 5.3%, in the DAWN hospitals in urban areas,” it continued, adding that “preliminary results also suggest that public health interventions may need to focus on methamphetamine since it appears to be the illicit substance most commonly associated with substance use-related DAWN ED visits (16,446 of the 49,773 or 33.0% of ED visits involving illicit substances and/or alcohol).” Methamphetamine, whether by itself or as part of polysubstance use, prompted the most ED visits to a DAWN hospital, the results found. For the report, go to https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/preliminary-dawn-data-review.