Ohio Drug and Alcohol Addiction Statistics
The most concerning drug in Ohio is crack cocaine, which is the most common drug that arrestees in the state test positive for, even exceeding marijuana. Cocaine in powdered form is still present in Ohio, but at a significantly lower rate.
Heroin use is increasing in the state, often as a cheaper alternative to prescription opiate medications. Drug overdose deaths have been increasing in Ohio, many of which can be attributed to both prescription opiates and heroin.
Marijuana is the most used drug in Ohio and is popular across all socioeconomic backgrounds. Adolescent use rates are higher than the national average, with 43% of high school students reporting ever having used marijuana (compared with 40% countrywide).
Methamphetamine is rarely used in Ohio, but pockets of users fueled by local laboratories are beginning to crop up around the state.
About 58% of adults in Ohio drink alcohol at least once per month, which is not an unusual percentage when compared with the rest of the country. However, Ohio has a high percentage of heavy drinkers – around 8% – which is defined as having two or more drinks per day. This makes them eight in the country for heavy drinkers per capita.
When looking at adolescent drinking rates, Ohio is not vastly different from the national averages. About 38% of high school students report having had at least one drink in the past month (39% nationally), and 24% report binge drinking in the past month (22% nationally).
Around 3.4% of Ohioans currently have an eating disorder (slightly higher than the national average), with over twice as many women diagnosed as men. Ohio also has a slightly elevated rate of gambling addiction and problem gambling at 2.8% of the population.