South Dakota Drug and Alcohol Addiction Statistics


The primary drug of choice in South Dakota is marijuana. Much of the drug is imported from through the southwest corner of the state, but some is grown locally as well. Despite its popularity, marijuana use among adolescents is seven points lower than the rest of the country with 33% of high school students reporting use at least once in their lifetimes. Marijuana is illegal in South Dakota for recreational and medicinal use.
Methamphetamine is a slight problem in South Dakota that is on the rise. Much of the meth in South Dakota comes from Mexico, which is a long trip, so most distributor stop in southern states. Meth labs in South Dakota are usually small quantity operations.
Other drugs are not used in significant quantities in South Dakota.

Nearly half of all patients seeking medical help for substance abuse in South Dakota are for alcohol abuse or dependence alone, though this could be due to the low rates of addictive substance use in South Dakota, because alcohol use rates in South Dakota are average when compared with the rest of the country.
Around 58% of adult South Dakota residents report having at least one drink in the past 30 days, while 18% report binge drinking (having five or more drinks in one sitting) in the past month.
Adolescent drinking rates in south Dakota were also on par with national rates, with 30% of high school students reporting having at least one drink in the past 30 days.

South Dakota has a significantly lower rate of gambling addiction that the national rates at 1.4% compared with about 2.2% for the rest of the country.
South Dakota does not have rates of behavioral disorders that differ significantly from US rates.
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