This is one in a series of brief
state-based reports intended to give the reader
a quick overview of substance abuse and mental health
issues within a single state. The data derive principally
from national surveys conducted by the Office of
Applied Studies, a component of the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Sources for all data used in this report appear
at the end.
Prevalence
of Illicit Substance and Alcohol Use in Massachusetts
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
generates state-level estimates for 23 measures
of substance use and mental health problems for
four age groups: the entire state population over
the age of 12 and older; individuals age 12 to 17;
individuals age 18 to 25; and individuals age 26
and older. Since state estimates of substance use
and abuse were first generated using the combined
2002–2003 NSDUHs and continuing until the
most recent state estimates based on the combined
2005–2006 surveys, Massachusetts has ranked
among the 10 States with the highest 2 rates of
the following measures:
|
Massachusetts
is among those States with the highest
rates of the following: |
| Measure |
Age
Groups |
| Past
Month Illicit Drug Use |
12-17,
18-25 |
| Past Month
Marijuana Use |
12+,
12-17, 18-25 |
| Past
Year Marijuana Use |
12+,
18-25 |
| Least Amount
of Perception of Risk Associated with
Smoking Marijuana Once a Month |
All
Age Groups |
| Past Month
Use of an Illicit Drug Other than Marijuana |
18-25 |
| Past
Year Cocaine Use |
12+,
18-25, 26+ |
| Past
Month Alcohol Use |
26+ |
| Least
Perception of Risk Associated with Having
Five or More Drinks of an Alcoholic
Beverage Once or Twice a Week |
12+,
12-17, 26+ |
|
Abuse and Dependency in Massachusetts
Questions in NSDUH are used to classify persons
as being dependent on or abusing specific substances
based on criteria specified in the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th
Edition (DSM-IV) (American Psychiatric Association,
1994).
Rates of past year drug dependence in Massachusetts
have generally been above the national rates for
all survey years, and among the group age 18 to
25 have consistently been among the highest in
the country.
MASSACHUSETTS PAST YEAR ILLICIT
DRUG DEPENDENCE
AMONG INDIVIDUALS AGE 18 TO 25
Rates of past year alcohol abuse have also generally
been at or above the national rates, with the
exception of the 12 to 17 age group which has
generally been at or below the national rate.
MASSACHUSETTS PAST YEAR
ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE
AMONG INDIVIDUALS AGE 18 TO 25
Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities
in Massachusetts
According to the National Survey of Substance
Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), 3 the number
of treatment facilities in Massachusetts has decreased
from 352 in 2002, to 312 in 2006. The most recent
N-SSATS survey showed that the majority of facilities
were private nonprofit (250 or 80%), and another
49 facilities (16%) were private for-profit. Although
facilities may offer more than one modality of
care, in 2006 the majority of facilities (207
or 66%) offered some form of outpatient treatment.
An additional 127 facilities (41%) offered some
form of residential care, 58 facilities offered
an opioid treatment program, and 276 physicians
and 73 treatment programs were certified to provide
buprenorphine treatment for opiate addiction.
In 2006, 67 percent of all facilities (209) received
some form of Federal, State, county, or local
government funds, and 179 facilities (57%) had
agreements or contracts with managed care organizations
for the provision of substance abuse treatment
services
Substance Abuse Treatment in
Massachusetts
State treatment data for substance use disorders
are derived from two primary sources—an
annual one-day census in N-SSATS and annual treatment
admissions from the Treatment Episode Data Set
(TEDS).4 The 2006 N-SSATS survey showed that Massachusetts
had a one-day total of 39,065 clients in treatment,
the majority of whom (34,904 or 89%) were in outpatient
treatment. Of the total number of clients in treatment
on this date, 1,890 (5%) were under the age of
18.
Across the last 15 years, there has been a steady
decline in the number of admissions mentioning
alcohol (82% vs. 55%) and cocaine (48% vs. 33%).
Concomitantly, there have been increases in the
percent of admissions mentioning heroin (27% vs.
48%) and opiates other than heroin (2.4% vs. 13%).
Across the years for which TEDS data are available,
Massachusetts has seen a substantial shift in
the constellation of problems present at treatment
admission (Chart 4). Alcohol-only admissions have
declined from 29 percent of all admissions in
1992, to 19 percent in 2006. Concomitantly, drug-only
admissions have increased from 18 percent in 1992,
to 45 percent in 2006.
Unmet Need for Addiction Treatment in
Massachusetts
NSDUH defines unmet treatment need as
an individual who meets the criteria for abuse
of or dependence on illicit drugs or alcohol according
to the DSM-IV, but who has not received specialty
treatment for that problem in the past year.
Rates of unmet drug treatment need for all age
groups and across all survey years have generally
been above the national rates; however, the rates
for the age group 18 to 25 have consistently been
among the highest in the country.
Similarly, rates of unmet alcohol treatment need
have been above the national rates for all age
groups and across all survey years.
Sources:
Facility Data: National Survey of Substance Abuse
Treatment Services (N-SSATS)–2006 is available
at: http://www.dasis.samhsa.gov.
Center for Mental Health Services
Uniform Reporting System Output Tables 2006 is
available at: http://mentalhealth.samhsa. gov/cmhs/MentalHealthStatistics/URS2006.asp
Substance Abuse Treatment Data:
Treatment Episode Data Set–Concatenated
File–is available from the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Data Archive: http://www. icpsr.umich.edu/SDA/SAMHDA.
Mental Health Treatment Data:
Center for Mental Health Services Uniform Reporting
System Output Tables 2006 is available at: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/
MentalHealthStatistics/URS2006.asp.
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