2010 Suicide
2010 22.4
11.9
Like mental health, Substance Abuse is a Leading Health Indicator for Healthy People 2020 with a goal to “reduce substance abuse to protect the health, safety, and quality of life for all, especially children.” In Giles County, more residents 12 years of age and older, reported having dependence or abuse of illicit drugs or alcohol, and more needing but not receiving treatment for illicit drug use, in the past year as compared statewide. Substance Abuse Percentages for Virginia and Giles County (Behavioral Health Atlas, Giles County Profile, 2011)
Number of Persons with Substance Abuse Dependence, age 12+, 2010 Alcohol Dependence or Abuse in Past Year Illicit Drug Dependence or Abuse in Past Year Dependence on or Abuse of Illicit Drugs or Alcohol in Past Year Needing But Not Receiving Treatment for Alcohol Use in Past Year Needing But Not Receiving Treatment for Illicit Drug Use in Past Year
Virginia Total 7.6% 2.8% 9.2% 7.2% 2.5%
Giles County 7.6% 3.4% 9.8% 7.0% 2.8%
Drug use was second only to motor vehicle accidents as the common cause of accidental death in Virginia in 2010.58 Prescription drug deaths accounted for at least 69% of all drug poisoning deaths and continued to increase in the Commonwealth for the second year in a row. In 2010, more of these deaths were due to oxycodone than methadone. The greatest number of deaths occurred in Western Virginia which includes Giles County. Nationally, 15,000 deaths per year are attributed to overdoses to prescription painkillers. This is considered a “national epidemic” which started in rural Appalachia.59 In Giles County, more deaths per 100,000 were attributed to drug/poison (narcotics, antianxiety, and alcohol) overdose and prescription drugs (fentanyl, hydrocodone, methadone, and oxycodone) as compared to Virginia as a whole. Giles County and Virginia Drug/Poison Death Rates (Age adjusted per 100,000) (Virginia Department of Health, Office of Chief Medical Examiner’s Annual Report 2010) Drug/Poison (deaths per 100,000 population)
Giles County
Virginia
58
Virginia Department of Health, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Annual Report 2010, released December 2011 (www.vdh.state.va.us/medExam/documents) 59 The Champion of Painkillers, www.dailyyonder.com/champion-painkillers/2011/12/27/3657
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