Pubdate: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA) Copyright: 2002 The Times-Picayune Contact: http://www.nola.com/t-p/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848 Author: Bruce Alpert, Washington bureau/The Times-Picayune ERS TALLY FEWER REPORTS OF DRUG USE N.O. area sees drops in 3 major areas WASHINGTON -- Fewer New Orleans-area emergency room patients reported using illegal drugs in 2001 than in the previous year, according to a federal study released this week. The federal report says that New Orleans was the only one of 21 metropolitan areas surveyed that showed a reduction in reported marijuana use by emergency room patients. It was one of three cities -- the others are San Diego and Dallas -- to show a reduction in cocaine use and one of six to show a reduction in heroin use. The survey is based on interviews in which patients are asked whether they used illegal drugs immediately before their visit to the ER. If the answer is yes, the patients are asked to specify the drug or drugs. Dr. Keith Van Meter, a section chief for Charity Hospital's emergency room, said the drop in reported drug use locally may be a result of stepped-up enforcement of drug laws. Combined cocaine, heroin and marijuana arrests in New Orleans rose from 2,525 in the first half of 2000 to 3,907 in the first half of 2002. The largest increase was for marijuana violations. "We may be seeing some of the impact of the heightened enforcement efforts," Van Meter said. However, Van Meter said, emergency room physicians at Charity have been seeing an increase in heroin-related cases recently, which he suspects may be due to the availability of a less expensive form of the drug. The 2001 downturn in reported drug use in New Orleans runs counter to what happened elsewhere, according to officials with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which oversaw the survey. The survey said that "mentions" of recent marijuana use by emergency room patients increased 15 percent from 2000 to 2001 on average in the 21 cities, while cocaine "mentions" were up 10 percent. Heroin use remained unchanged. In many cases, drug use led directly to serious medical problems, which prompted the emergency room visit, federal officials said. "This report shows one more cost of drug abuse to our society," said Tommy Thompson, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the substance abuse agency. "We must continue to strengthen our prevention program and build substance-abuse treatment capacity so that people don't abuse drugs and end up in costly emergency departments, taking resources away from other urgent-care needs." Although much of the information about drug use is voluntarily provided by the patients, federal officials say they are confident that it signals important trends about drug use and the impact on public health. "When people are in an emergency room, they tend to tell the truth about factors such as drug use because they don't want to die and want the appropriate treatment," said Leah Young, spokesman for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Earlier this year, the agency released mortality data for drug overdoses, and the results were sobering, according to White House Drug Czar John Walters. In the New Orleans area, 242 people died of drug overdoses in 2000, according to data collected by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. According to statistics, 103 of the deaths occurred in New Orleans, 84 in Jefferson Parish, 19 in St. Bernard Parish and 36 in St. Tammany Parish. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom