WOMEN AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE
As a Matter
of Fact
▼ In 2002, 18.1 percent of
the pregnant women in Missouri reported smoking during
their pregnancy.
▼ In 2002, 222 Missouri
newborns were affected by illicit drugs; this was an
increase of 11 births over 2001.
▼ Combined national data
from 2000 and 2001 show that 8.3 percent of non
pregnant women aged 15 to 44 reported using illicit
drugs in the month prior to the interview.
▼ In 2002, there were
670,307 drug related visits to emergency departments
(ED) nationwide. Of these episodes 308,098 involved
females, a 22% increase from the 252,128 female ED
visits in 1995. In 2002, there were 1,209,938 ED drug
mentions, 553,874 of which involved females.
▼ Women who drink heavily
or are alcoholic are more likely to become victims of
the alcohol-related aggression, such as date rape.
▼ In 2002, nearly 2 million
women aged 18 or older were estimated to have both
serious mental illness (SMI) and a substance use
disorder during the past year.
▼ In Missouri, the reported
number of newborns born to women who drank alcohol
during pregnancy decreased from 553 in 2001 to 517 in
2002.
▼ Marital status influences
drinking habits. Among women aged 21 to 49, married
women were less likely to have used tobacco, engaged in
binge alcohol use, or used any illicit drug in the past
month compared with women who were divorced or
separated, never married, or living with an unmarried
partner.
▼ Despite their relatively
low consumption levels, women account for nearly
one-half of cirrhosis deaths among American Indians.
▼ In 2000, 14 percent of
all adult female admissions to substance abuse treatment
were for the primary use of crack cocaine. The average
length of crack use was 12 years prior to admission.
▼ In Missouri, the number
of pregnant women entering substance abuse treatment has
increased steadily from 176 women in 1998 to 305 in
2003.
▼ In 2002, 42% of the
patients treated in the emergency department for
amphetamines or methamphetamines were women.
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▼The drug with the highest prevalence of use
among pregnant women ages 15 to 44 was marijuana, with 2.9%
reporting past month marijuana use.
▼ The impact of alcohol appears
to be greater upon women than men.
▼ Women who abuse alcohol or
drugs are at a higher risk for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, oral
and pharyngeal cancer, injury, and sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs).
▼ Women are more susceptible to
alcohol-related liver damage. They develop liver disease in
a shorter period of time and at lower levels of consumption.
The number of alcoholic women who develop alcohol-related
liver disease is higher than among alcoholic men.
▼ Repeated or sustained
episodes of alcohol intoxication may suppress hormonal
activity in women. Studies suggest that there is a higher
prevalence of menstrual dysfunction and accelerated onset
of menopause among alcoholic women. Other problems such as
obstetrical disorders and gynecological surgery and sexual
dysfunction are also more common.
▼ In 2002, 4.4 percent of women
reported using marijuana during the past month while eight
percent of men did. The same research found that 36 percent
of women have used marijuana at some point during their
lifetime.
▼ Among pregnant women in the
United States, aged 15 to 44 in 2002, 9.1% used alcohol and
3.1% reported binge drinking in the month prior to the
survey. Heavy alcohol use was relatively rare at .7%.
▼ Among non pregnant women aged
15 to 44, 53.4% use alcohol and 23.4% binge drink.
▼ In the United States today,
over 77,000 women have been diagnosed with AIDS attributed
to injection drug use or sex with an IDU (injecting drug
user), and nearly a third of AIDS cases in adult/adolescent
women diagnosed in 2001 reported injection drug use or sex
with an IDU as their primary risks.
▼ Women
entered the substance abuse treatment system through
different avenues than men. Women were less likely than men
to be referred by the criminal justice system and more
likely to be referred by community, religious, or
governmental
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