Deathly issue
For the past few years, at least 40,000 emergency room visits in California are caused by illicit drug use (mainly overdoses). While there are definitely some individuals who account for multiple of these occurrences, this number makes up approximately 1.3% of California’s 3 million people who use illicit substances. Not all people make it to the hospital, though. Based on the California Department of Public Health, about 11 people die from an overdose in California every single day.
This has led to a situation where 19 out of 58 of California’s counties experience at least 20 overdose deaths per 100,000 people. Only a decade ago, this would have only accounted for 2 counties. In total, California saw about 47,000 overdose deaths in 2014, and this number is continuing to climb.
Counties with highest rates of drug abuse
Northern California, per capita, has vastly more overdoses than other parts of the state. Pretty much every county north of Yuba and Colusa county have a horrible drug overdose problem, with only Tehama and Del Norte county having less than 20 overdose deaths per 100,000 people per year, on average. This isn’t necessarily because there is more drug abuse in northern California, as those levels are pretty even throughout the state.
The trouble is that northern counties typically have less access to the lifesaving healthcare that is necessary when a person is having an overdose. This lack of access is largely due to the fact that northern California is a lot more spread out, in terms of its population. As a general rule, rural areas tend to struggle more with medical care for those who suffer from addiction.
High cost of substance abuse
Addiction and drug abuse destroys the lives of millions of individuals, and tears apart families all across the state. However, Not only is this problem horrendous for the cost of human life that it implicates, but it is also an incredibly costly economic issue. Roughly $60 million dollars of California money is spent just keeping marijuana offenders behind bars, annually. This is a relatively low cost, as well. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that abuse of illegal drugs costs about $193 billion dollars, nationally, each year. These costs are due to health care costs, lost productivity, law enforcement costs, and damages from crime.