Mississippi Drug Statistics Causing Alarm

Mississippi shares a common problem along with other states in the country in that it has a rising drug abuse problem that seems unshaken by law enforcement and community efforts to decrease it. The Mississippi drug statistics show that there are a number of major drug concerns within the state which are adding to the drug abuse rates. Cocaine proves to be one of the largest threats to the state because it is so easy to obtain. It is also one of the biggest causes for alarm.

Local drug dealers will make crack out of powder cocaine and sell it in this higher potency form to the residents making the Mississippi drug statistics for drug abuse rise even further. Mexican drug cartels traffic drugs with ease to Mississippi because it is so close to Mexico. The trafficking groups utilize both privately owned and commercial owned vehicles to transport the drugs to the state. Complex highway systems make the transport of these drugs easy. Some African American groups are found using the highway system to transport illegal drugs into and through the state as well. The state of Mississippi is a common route for travelers heading South into Mexico and North into other parts of the country. Mexico is where most of the drugs from the state come from and therefore this makes Mississippi a prime target for drug trafficking.

Meth is often sold in the state by Caucasian drug cartel groups. Caucasians are the main source for meth production in the state as well. Many meth labs are found and busted each year as proof that the production in the state is highly active. Furthermore, African American drug cartels are becoming more present in the sales of meth within the state.

Meth and marijuana also have high abuse rates throughout the state. The availability and fairly cheap prices makes meth a widely used drug in the state. Meth is not just a threat to the abuser but also to the surrounding communities and families. Marijuana is widely abused by the younger residents in Mississippi. Fortunately, the one drug that is not greatly abused in Mississippi is heroin. This makes heroin a low priority threat on the law enforcement scales. Marijuana is often tried first before other drugs are introduced. Besides marijuana though, club drugs including ecstasy and GHB are popular among the youth of the state.

Ecstasy is the most widely abused club drug in the state and is highly obtainable. Drug runners aim for the youth who are attending parties and are present in night clubs so that they can sell them ecstasy and other club drugs. Prescription drugs are another concern to the state of Mississippi. The most commonly abused prescription drug is oxycontin. Mississippi statistics show that there have been many overdose deaths associated with oxycontin use. Statistics show that in 2005 and 2006, there were 7% of the residents from the state that had used an illegal drug within 30 days. Marijuana had the highest abuse rate.

Very disturbingly, many high school kids and younger residents are using drugs on a regular basis. The young residents in fact make up a large portion of the reported drug abuse in the state. Mississippi drug statistics from 2007 showed that there was somewhere around 38% of the seniors in high school that had used marijuana on at least one occasion. Thats almost half of all high school seniors in the state that had smoked pot. These numbers tell that there is an increasing problem with drug abuse in Mississippi.

Alcohol comes into play when a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol are mixed. Many young people combine these two and wind up overdosing or getting in fatal car wrecks. Because alcohol is legal, it is very easy to get and sometimes very cheap depending on brand and type. Many times an underage person will get an adult to purchase the alcohol for them. The problem among many with underage drinking though is that the younger generation does not set limits nor, do they understand them. This causes them to drink too much or combine the alcohol with drugs. It is most simply because they are not aware of the dangers that cause them to make unwise decisions regarding alcohol and drugs. Teens most typically have a higher rate of drunk driving in Mississippi than adults do. This is proof that the younger crowds are in fact abusing alcohol in large amounts. This also proves that they do not make very wise choices while they are intoxicated. Sometimes when alcohol is mixed with drugs, it winds up in death due to coma, overdose and brain damage. Even though law enforcement officials are hard at work to lessen the number of drug traffickers and abusers in the state, there is little shown to prove that the efforts have paid off even slightly.

During the year 2006, there were around 7,368 people who said that they had been admitted to a drug treatment program in the state of Mississippi. During the same time, there were around 66,000 other people who said that they were in need of but didnt get drug treatment. There are various reasons why someone who needs drug treatment would not get it. Sometimes the drug abuser doesnt realize or want to admit that they have a problem. Other times, the drug abuser is just afraid.

There is no reason for you to be scared if you use drugs and think you might need help to quit. You are not alone in your addiction in fact, there are many others out there just like you. The difference is that you can do something about it. You can make a change to better your life and live drug free. The option is yours although, many drug abusers commonly face the same fates. These fates are jail or death. In order for you to ensure that your fate doesnt wind up like this, it is important for you to seek help from a drug treatment center as early as possible. The support and dedicated staff could actually help to save your life.