Tennessee Ranks Worst Nationwide in Drug Abuse, Addiction

Tennessee pulled the number one spot for the worst state nationwide for drug and alcohol addiction due to the state’s high rate of overdoses, deaths, drug-involved crimes and drug violations according to Rehab.com’s latest report.

The site’s May 2024 report, “Drug Use Statistics in the United States”, sorts through data pulled from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the CDC, the DOJ, treatment centers and hospitals.

Tennessee scored an 81 overall out of 100, the highest score for a state, where the highest-ranking score indicates worse drug problems. Tennessee ranked the third worst state for drug overdoses with 53.2 overdoses per individual.  Tennessee ranked number six in narcotics violations with 712 narcotics violations per 100,000 individuals. Tennessee ranked at 39 for rehab admissions with 282 rehab admissions per 100,000 individuals and the state ranked at 23 for illegal drug use with 14.6% reported illegal drug use (excluding cannabis and prescription opioids).

In comparing types of drugs, Opioids caused 42.3 overdoses per capita in Tennessee in October 2023, Cocaine caused 12 and Amphetamines caused 22.1.

The states coming in with the best scores were New York, Hawaii and Montana. According to the report, “Southern states, however, have the highest aggregate scores and appear to be most detrimentally affected by addiction, particularly relating to the opioid epidemic. According to these statistics, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, and North Carolina continue to bear the brunt of the drug crisis in the United States.”

The data also showed that, nationwide, those aged between 18-25 reported the highest drug and alcohol use. That age demographic also saw the highest number of drug-related E.R. visits. Binge drinking was prominent in ages 26–34-year-olds. The highest rate of rehab admissions was in the 12–17-year-old age demographic.

Gender showed that the highest dug and alcohol use, binge drinking, drug related E.R. visits and rehab admissions comes from men.

Ethnicity showed that Native Americans had the highest rate of drug use, drug related E.R. visits and rehab admissions, while white people had the highest rate of binge drinking.

Those with income brackets between 10-20K showed the highest rate of drug use, drug related E.R. visits and rehab admissions. Those in the 40-50K income bracket showed the highest rate of binge drinking.