Epidemiology Reports

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecol-ogists (ACOG) recommends avoiding the use of psy-choactive substances during pregnancy.1 However, an article by Branum and Ahrens2 reports that, on average, women are unaware of being pregnant until five to six weeks into their pregnancy. This is a critical public health concern because substance use during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, congenital anomalies, fetal al-cohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), and neonatal absti-nence syndrome (NAS), among others

Changed in Drug Overdose Mortality in New Mexico

New Mexico deaths were identified using data from the Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics in the Epidemiology and Response Division, New Mexico Department of Health. Alcohol-related mortality rates were calculated by decedent demographics and by county for the five-year period, 2013 through 2017.

This report provides insight into the burden of drug overdose in New Mexico using drug overdose death information. The findings provide a limited view of the impact of drug abuse in New Mexico.

Amphetamine and methamphetamine are stimulant drugs that affect the central nervous system. Amphetamines are prescription medications used to treat attention hyperactivity disorder. Methamphetamine, a much more potent version of amphetamine, is usually produced and sold illegally.

The objective of this analysis was to describe Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention among adults in New Mexico and assess A-SBI implementation by alcohol consumption status.

This report will compare alcohol poisoning rates for New Mexico to those for the United States in order to support the development of policies and public health interventions in New Mexico.

Drug overdose death has become the leading cause of injury death in New Mexico and nationally over the past decade. New Mexico had the second-highest drug overdose death rate in the nation, after West Virginia, in 2011. In the period from 2008-2012, there were an average of 483 drug overdose deaths in New Mexico each year, more than three times as many as there were in 1990-1994.

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.

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.

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.