DENVER (KDVR) — Research from Wallet Hub shows Colorado has one of the biggest drug problems in the country.
Wallet Hub said researchers looked at 21 different metrics for each state, which compared drug arrests, overdose rates, opioid prescriptions and employee drug testing laws.
Here are the rankings from Wallet Hub for the highest drug use. Colorado lands at seventh overall.
| Overall Rank | State | Total Score | Drug Use & Addiction | Law Enforcement | Drug Health Issues & Rehab |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Virginia | 58.42 | 4 | 3 | 23 |
| 2 | District of Columbia | 57.24 | 1 | 29 | 7 |
| 3 | Arkansas | 54.02 | 14 | 4 | 9 |
| 4 | Missouri | 53.36 | 29 | 1 | 12 |
| 5 | New Mexico | 52.67 | 8 | 7 | 25 |
| 6 | Nevada | 52.41 | 9 | 37 | 1 |
| 7 | Colorado | 52.40 | 17 | 6 | 8 |
| 8 | Michigan | 52.09 | 13 | 19 | 4 |
| 9 | Oregon | 49.66 | 7 | 43 | 2 |
| 10 | Tennessee | 48.91 | 3 | 25 | 32 |
| 11 | Louisiana | 48.37 | 12 | 21 | 14 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 46.82 | 5 | 8 | 50 |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 46.79 | 11 | 47 | 5 |
| 14 | Indiana | 46.63 | 10 | 14 | 44 |
| 15 | Massachusetts | 46.35 | 18 | 20 | 15 |
| 16 | Montana | 46.27 | 16 | 23 | 11 |
| 17 | Vermont | 45.67 | 2 | 49 | 36 |
| 18 | Arizona | 45.52 | 21 | 28 | 6 |
| 19 | Maine | 45.40 | 6 | 46 | 21 |
| 20 | Oklahoma | 44.10 | 31 | 32 | 3 |
| 21 | Wyoming | 43.91 | 40 | 2 | 30 |
| 22 | Illinois | 43.75 | 24 | 18 | 31 |
| 23 | Washington | 42.09 | 15 | 44 | 20 |
| 24 | New Hampshire | 41.56 | 34 | 15 | 37 |
| 25 | Kansas | 41.25 | 36 | 24 | 10 |
| 26 | Alaska | 40.78 | 20 | 48 | 16 |
| 27 | Mississippi | 40.23 | 32 | 26 | 22 |
| 28 | New York | 40.14 | 37 | 16 | 40 |
| 29 | California | 39.65 | 22 | 30 | 38 |
| 30 | Pennsylvania | 39.31 | 35 | 9 | 48 |
| 31 | Maryland | 38.95 | 25 | 38 | 33 |
| 32 | North Carolina | 38.56 | 27 | 27 | 39 |
| 33 | Florida | 38.52 | 33 | 42 | 13 |
| 34 | Delaware | 37.93 | 30 | 41 | 27 |
| 35 | New Jersey | 37.52 | 41 | 12 | 34 |
| 36 | Connecticut | 37.45 | 23 | 35 | 42 |
| 37 | Texas | 36.95 | 46 | 13 | 18 |
| 38 | Ohio | 36.43 | 19 | 40 | 47 |
| 39 | South Carolina | 36.24 | 26 | 50 | 35 |
| 40 | Wisconsin | 35.34 | 42 | 10 | 46 |
| 41 | Alabama | 34.42 | 28 | 51 | 19 |
| 42 | Georgia | 34.18 | 38 | 36 | 26 |
| 43 | South Dakota | 33.87 | 49 | 11 | 28 |
| 44 | Virginia | 33.77 | 44 | 17 | 43 |
| 45 | Nebraska | 33.58 | 48 | 22 | 17 |
| 46 | North Dakota | 33.19 | 51 | 5 | 45 |
| 47 | Iowa | 32.81 | 43 | 33 | 24 |
| 48 | Idaho | 30.30 | 47 | 31 | 29 |
| 49 | Utah | 28.57 | 45 | 34 | 41 |
| 50 | Hawaii | 25.20 | 39 | 45 | 51 |
| 51 | Minnesota | 22.93 | 50 | 39 | 49 |
Note: With the exception of “Total Score,” all of the columns in the table above depict the relative rank of that state, where a rank of 1 represents the worst conditions for that metric category.
Other rankings for Colorado
- 14th – Share of teenagers who used illicit drugs in the past month
- 6th – Share of adults who used illicit drugs in the past month
- 30th – Drug overdose deaths per capita
- 2nd – Share of adults who couldn’t get treatment for illicit drug use in the past year
- 19th – Substance abuse treatment facilities per 100,000 people (Age 12+) using illicit drugs
Experts said that authorities need to be honest in how they approach this topic in the public arena: “The war on drugs and ‘this is your brain on drugs’ backfired badly.”
“Clearly, attempting to keep drugs out of the country is a lost cause – in part because many drugs that are misused (fentanyl analogs) are easily manufactured anywhere,” shared Ph.D. Charles France, Professor of Pharmacology and Professor of Psychiatry.
Wallet Hub ranked Minnesota as having the lowest drug use in the country. The highest drug use in the country was determined to be in West Virginia.
