Posted on 06/16/2005 5:33:59 PM PDT by TFFKAMM
Both college towns, Boston and Boulder, Colo., share another distinction: They lead the nation in marijuana use. Northwestern Iowa and southern Texas have the lowest use. For the first time, the government looked at the use of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and various other substances, legal as well as illegal, by region rather than by state for a report Thursday.
Regions could be as specific as Riverside, Calif., or as broad as all of the state of New York (minus New York City). Federal officials say the information will help states decide where they should spend money for treatment and prevention programs.
For marijuana, 5.1 percent of people around the country reported using marijuana in the previous 30 days. In Boston, the home of Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern and several other colleges, 12.2 percent reported using marijuana in the previous 30 days.
In Boulder County, the home of the University of Colorado, 10.3 percent reported using marijuana during the same time period.
John Auerbach, executive director of the public health commission for the city of Boston, said the survey might not reflect current marijuana use in Boston because the data came from 1999-2001 national surveys.
"All that said, we're not surprised that substance abuse is a serious issue in the Boston area," Auerbach said. "The mayor and the health department have made the issue of substance abuse a top public health priority."
Auerbach also acknowledged that the data may reflect the city's significant 20-something population.
"College students in general have a more relaxed attitude about marijuana than other age groups. But in general, I don't think Boston has a markedly differently perspective on marijuana than other parts of the country."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
No "hecho en Mexico" for me. IF I feel that I have to smoke pot, I won't be buying it at all. I will, however, grow it in American soil, OK?
Personally, what I'd do is totally decriminalize the stuff for adult use so long as users grew their own. Any sale or transfer of pot would be a felony pop. This way, you allow sick folks or casual stoners to use cannabis privately, while keeping drug dealing illegal.
"Nederland"
Frozen Dead Guy ping!
Boulder a cesspool? Yes a cesspool of stoned out of their minds liberalism I see it everyday.
For the first time, the government looked at the use of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and various other substances, legal as well as illegal, by region rather than by state for a report Thursday.
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After carefully considering all of these important facts, I've come to the conclusion that the agency that completed this study should be abolished immediately.
The last time a stranger on the street offered to sell me pot was in Boston, in 1993.
I would guess that the states with the biggest drug problems are the states with the most liberal senators. (Mass., Calif., Ore., Wash., etc.)
I don't know if they voted for them because they are stoned or they're stoned because they voted for them.
Bingo for the sick folks. I was asked by a paraplegic Vietnam vet in the VA hospital if I minded helping him light and hold up what he couldn't. Noting that he was dealing with chemo on top of his other problems I didn't mind at all.
On a related note, sales of Krispy Kreme and White Castle are up 50% in those same areas.
"After carefully considering all of these important facts, I've come to the conclusion that the agency that completed this study should be abolished immediately. "
To be quite honest, the way things are going right now, most agencies that complete studies should be abolished immediately. You never get much good from government-related anything.
Santa Cruz, Berkeley, San Francisco; the Bermuda Triangle of common sense...
They should have broken this down by county
Birthplace of the UAW.
One time I actually drove an F150 with a 4X8 GOP sign in the back through part of the North end of Flint on my way to a campaign event. Yes I am crazy.
No doubt! So what is all of this Boulder/Boston nonsense? On behalf of Stoner-fornia, I demand a recount, dude! ...Sweet! ...Good call!
That must be the PC term for being a pothead.
Glad to see we know where the incidence of substance abuse was greatest six years ago. Wonder where it is today?
Anybody know?
How about every college town with a student population above 10,000?
No mention of Oregon? It's been a while but they were openly dealing on the main street of Bend in '97. Quantity too, not small bags. I stood just a few feet away from a young kid (18-20) and easily overheard the conversation.
June 16, 2005 |
In Brief |
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Use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes is known to vary across States.1 Estimates for these variations are derived from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), which asks persons aged 12 or older to report on their use of cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs in the past year and in the past month. Illicit drugs include marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), inhalants, hallucinogens, heroin, or prescription-type drugs used nonmedically. This issue of The NSDUH Report uses data from the combined 1999 to 2001 NSDUH surveys to present estimates of past month use of marijuana for 331 geographic areas within the 50 States and the District of Columbia. The marijuana data are extracted from a more extensive report that includes substate estimates of 12 substance use measures, Substate Estimates from the 1999-2001 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, available at http://oas.samhsa.gov/substate2k5/toc.htm.
Estimates presented in this report and the full report are based on a small area estimation (SAE) procedure in which NSDUH data at the substate level are combined with local-area county and Census block group/tract-level data from the area to provide more precise estimates. The same methodology is used to produce State estimates from NSDUH.1 Substate areas were developed collaboratively between staff at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and State substance abuse treatment representatives, with the States making the final decision on the geographic boundaries. In most States, the substate areas are defined in terms of counties or groups of counties; in some States, the areas are defined in terms of Census tracts. For each of the 12 measures presented in the complete report, estimates for the substate areas were ranked from lowest to highest and grouped into seven categories.2
Figure 1. Marijuana Use in Past Month among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Substate Region: Percentages, Annual Averages Based on 1999, 2000, and 2001 NSDUH Data |
Nationally, an average of 5.1 percent of persons aged 12 or older reported using marijuana in the past month from 1999 through 2001. Past month marijuana use ranged from a low of 2.3 percent in Northwest Iowa to a high of 12.2 percent in Boston, Massachusetts (Figure 1).3 Of the 15 substate areas with the highest rates of past month marijuana use in the United States, 5 were in Massachusetts, and 4 of the 15 areas with the lowest rates were in Iowa. Three areas in California and two areas in Colorado also ranked in the top 15. In some States, there was a large variation in the percentage using marijuana in the past month depending on the substate area. For example, rates in California ranged from a low of 4.9 percent in Region 14 (Orange County) and Region 11 (Los Angeles County) to a high of 9.2 percent in Region 4 (Marin, San Mateo, and San Francisco Counties). Rates in Colorado ranged from 6.3 percent (Regions 1 and 4, covering 27 counties in the eastern part of the State) to 10.3 percent in Region 7 (Boulder County).
The full report with estimates for 12 measures of substance use is only available online at http://oas.samhsa.gov/substate2k5/toc.htm. In addition to past month marijuana use, estimates are presented for 11 other measures of substance use among persons aged 12 or older: past month use of any illicit drug, incidence rate of marijuana use, past month use of any illicit drug other than marijuana, past year use of cocaine, past month use of alcohol, past month binge use of alcohol, past month use of tobacco, past month use of cigarettes, perceptions of great risk of smoking marijuana once a month, perceptions of great risk of having five or more drinks of an alcoholic beverage once or twice a week, and perceptions of great risk of smoking one or more packs of cigarettes a day. Also included in the report are national maps for all 12 measures for the 331 substate areas, detailed tables for the substate areas, and definitions and population counts for the substate areas. The complete report gives a detailed description of the methodology used to generate the model-based estimates.
For definitions of substate regions, see section D at http://oas.samhsa.gov/substate2k5/toc.htm
Source: SAMHSA, 1999-2001 NSDUH.
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Prior to 2002, this survey was called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. The 1999 to 2001 data are based on information obtained from 207,399 persons aged 12 or older. The survey collects data by administering questionnaires to a representative sample of the population through face-to-face interviews at their place of residence. The NSDUH Report is prepared by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS), SAMHSA, and by RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. (RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute.) Information and data for this issue are based on the following publication and statistics: Office of Applied Studies. (2005). Substate estimates from the 1999-2001 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. [Available online at http://oas.samhsa.gov/substate2k5/toc.htm]
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The NSDUH Report (formerly The NHSDA Report) is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA. Additional copies of this report or other reports from the Office of Applied Studies are available on-line: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov. Citation of the source is appreciated. For questions about this report please e-mail: shortreports@samhsa.hhs.gov.
Check the map in post #39.
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