Portsmouth, Ohio- The largest drug use survey was conducted in Scioto County in conjunction with SCDN, Shawnee State University, and The Counseling Center. Over 35,000 people were given a lengthy survey with only one rule: Be Honest. The participates were promised anonymity because the overall findings would help shape the efforts to help combat the situation. Here are those results.
70%+ of respondents attended college
65% are long term drug users (10+ years)
Almost half were under 15 when they first tried drugs
Cocaine seems to be more prevalent than any particular opioids
“In the last month”, meth is trending up
More than half currently smoke cigarettes but do not drink alcohol
About 25% have overdosed 3+ times
Almost 40% don’t want to quit
55% feel the withdrawal symptoms are the hardest part of quitting
74% want Narcan to be more readily available in Scioto County
68% have broken the law for their addiction
73% have stolen things for their addiction
51% were/are dealers
We would like to thank those that participated in our survey. Your honesty helped compile helpful information that can be used as a “real-time” barometer for local officials and care providers.
We would like to thank Portsmouth City Councilperson Sean Dunne for helping develop the questions and distributing the survey. Also, we appreciate the efforts of Tim Wolfe and his support over the years. Finally, Dale King, who has made such positive strides in this field and helped garner national attention to the hard work and efforts that Scioto County is actively working to overcome the shadow of shame for this epidemic.
Drug Use Scioto County