Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drug Abuse Trends in Washington State - 2008 Report is published annually by the Washington State Division of Alcohol & Substance Abuse, and can be used to measure progress in the state's effort to prevent and treat substance abuse.
The 2008 Trends Report contains information about the economic costs of substance abuse, substance abuse prevalence and trends, impacts of substance abuse, the effectiveness of prevention and treatment, and policy issues confronting the state.
Some noteworthy trends for 2008:
- Smoking prevalence among adults is declining.
- The percentage of students, both in Washington State and nationally, who have tried alcohol is relatively constant.
- Treatment admissions for methamphetamine have fallen for the first time in a decade.
But it's not all good news:
- Adult binge drinking in Washington State is at its highest rate in a decade.
- WA has among the highest rates of non-medical use of prescription pain relievers in the nation.
- Almost one-fifth of Washington State 10th and 12th graders reported being drunk/high at school in the past year.
