Are you having Trouble Finding the Page you are looking for? Feel free to contact us or use our A to Z page to find an alphabetical list of pages and services available on this site.
New Mexico (NM) had the highest rate of alcohol-related motor vehicle crash (AR-MVC) deaths in the United States prior to 1997. However, New Mexico’s AR-MVC death rates and its rank in the nation have dropped considerably in recent years.
As recently as 1996, New Mexico had the fifth highest rate of alcohol-impaired motor vehicle crash (AI-MVC) death in the United States. However, New Mexico’s AI-MVC death rate and its rank in the nation have dropped considerably in recent years.
Alcohol use and misuse is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Alcohol contributes to injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes, fires, falls, and drowning. Alcohol also contributes to violence such as child
New Mexico continues to experience serious negative consequences of drug use. National household survey data for 2005-2007 estimated that roughly 58,000 New Mexicans aged 12 years or older were in need of drug treatment (personal communication, SAMHSA). Overdose is a common occurrence among people who use drugs.
While alcohol-related motor vehicle crash death rates have decreased, death rates from other alcohol-related causes - injury deaths including suicides, homicides, falls, and non-alcohol-poisoning; and alcohol-related chronic disease deaths, particularly chronic liver disease - have actually increased.
The etiology of chronic liver disease (CLD) and recent trends in CLD death in New Mexico and the U.S. were described in Part 1 of this report. As reported there, during the period 1981-2004 Hepatitis C (HCV) emerged as an important cause of chronic liver disease death, while excessive alcohol consumption remained the leading cause of CLD death in both New Mexico and the United States.
New Mexico had the second highest drug-induced death rate in the nation in 2005, 20.9 deaths per 100,000 persons compared to the U.S. rate of 11.2 per 100,000. Two New Mexico counties were among the top 25 U.S. counties for drug-induced poisoning death.
Chronic liver disease (CLD) is a chronic condition that has a variety of causes, including alcohol consumption, exposure to various drugs and toxic chemicals, and viral hepatitis. Excessive alcohol consumption has historically been the leading cause of CLD.
The economic costs associated with alcohol abuse in New Mexico in 2007 amounted to an estimated $2.8 billion or more than $1,400 for every person in the state. This estimate represents an 11% increase in both total and per capita costs over the costs reported previously for 2006.1 This increase was the result of an 11% increase in New Mexico's alcohol-related death rate, from 48.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2006 to 54.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2007.
New Mexicans state-wide are familiar with the devastating effects of drug use on individuals, families and communities. In August 2003, drug overdose in New Mexico became a reportable condition to NMDOH in order to measure and monitor trends related to drug use.
Alcohol poisoning results from the rapid ingestion of large quantities of alcohol, which can lead to very high blood alcohol concentrations and death. In the past several years, the highly publicized alcohol-poisoning deaths of college students in a number of states have focused much-needed national and state attention on the risks of binge drinking in the underage and college-age population.
In 2003, New Mexico experienced a dramatic increase in drug overdose deaths due to prescription drugs. This alarming trend was observed in other US states as well. However, the unexpected increase in prescription drug overdose death exacerbated the already high burden associated with illicit drug use in New Mexico.
The task of assessing and monitoring drug abuse patterns and trends has become increasingly more challenging in recent years. Drug patterns are constantly changing. New drugs are being manufactured synthetically and introduced on the streets and in party scenes.
The 2004 New Mexico Social Indicator Report presents county-level and state-wide data on indicators relevant to alcohol and drug abuse in New Mexico. The data presented here allow comparisons of the relative burden of substance abuse among New Mexico counties and the state.
Improving the quality of life in New Mexico is key to this administration’s vision for the future. This vision involves substantially reducing the burden of substance abuse in New Mexico. As part of the solution, we must first identify the conditions in which we find ourselves as a society.
Reducing the burden of substance abuse is an essential part of this administration’s vision for the future of New Mexico. The 2003 New Mexico Social Indicator Report plays an important role in that vision by providing a valuable tool to be used in combating alcohol and drug abuse in our state.