How bad is the drug use in North Dakota

[NDgal]

I would say per capita, we have a fair problem with drugs, but I would say alcohol is a bigger problem...

[vnodak]

LOL----It is all relative. Drugs are everywhere people are so saying that, you will see more drugs and crime in larger areas that are more liberal. ND does have DRUGS but on a smaller scale. I would much rather raise a family in ND than in LA for example. IMO

[greatmuta]

As others have said, Alcohol is by far the most used and abused drug in ND. It's the 2nd drunkest state, behind Wisconsin. The only things I ever saw around when I lived there were alcohol and marijuana.

[MikeyToo]

Originally Posted by greatmuta

As others have said, Alcohol is by far the most used and abused drug in ND. It's the 2nd drunkest state, behind Wisconsin. The only things I ever saw around when I lived there were alcohol and marijuana.

I grew up in north-central ND in 50's-60's and at that time it seemed everyone drank if you wanted to be cool. I remember when our local drive-in theater would have dusk to dawn movies playing all night. The next morning with the sun comming up on the screen, you could hardly see the picture, but what really caught your eye was the sun shinning off the sea of beer cans that littered the entire parking area. Everyone I knew drank, but very few that I know of, ever became alcoholics. As far as pot, I think pot smoking began in ND, probably like it did in other areas of the country, during the 60's - 70's. I believe in part to men/women being stationed over seas in Vietnam, Korea and other areas where pot was plentiful and cheap. I was drafted and sent to Korea, so speaking from experience there was a lot of pot smoking going on over there. Many brought the pot smoking habit back with them and spread it around. Of course, you have events like Woodstock, that kind of glorified weed, so I think it just took off from there. Just my slant on the ND drug culture.
Too much of anything isn't so good for you dontcha know.

[TravisW]

It's all been downhill since the zip to Zap.

[vnodak]

Originally Posted by TravisW

It's all been downhill since the zip to Zap.

OMG---I hate to say this but I remember the Zip to Zap!!!!! I was going to UND at the time. LOL

[c0ldfuse]

I'm going to c/p my response to another thread which has some more detailed information:

Originally Posted by c0ldfuse

The following really addresses much of the Midwest, but I pulled a few numbers from studies highlighting North Dakota for you.

Drugs are going to be the standard midwest city affair, primarily alcohol and majijuana. Cocaine/heroin/ecstacy/speed are not as common in the midwest as elsewhere, but like everything they exist. Maybe you're trying to be polite, but I would assume the big concern you're addressing is meth. I know some people who are regular drug users in the Fargo area, and they stick to alcohol, weed, and occasionally mushrooms. I believe Alcohol is likely your biggest concern, which is a nation-wide issue. The only life-altering drug related issues my friends in/from Fargo have is a single recovering alcoholic, though there are many that would qualify by even the most liberal as alky's. "Functional alcoholics" are unfortunately common.


I found a couple drug-use studies and they backed up what I surmised:

2. Illicit Drug Use, State Estimates from the 2005-2006 NSDUH, SAMHSA OAS

North Dakota had the lowest percentage of people who reported using an illicit drug during the previous month (5.7%).

Cocaine use was reported by 2.4% of nationwide participants in 2005-2006. Cocaine rates were highest in Washington, D.C. (4.9%) and lowest in North Dakota (1.6%).

Marijuana usage for age 12+ in North Dakota was 8.53% in 04 and 7.48% in 05.

State Estimates of Past Year Methamphetamine Use, SAMHSA Office of Applied Studies

This study ranks meth usage as 11/50 in North Dakota (with 1 as the worst). However, as the fed has tightened restrictions on pseudoephedrine has cut down the ability to make meth effectively removing its source in the US leaving Mexico as the primary supplier, which is reflected in the number of meth-lab shutdowns in the state by year: http://www.drug-detox-rehab.org/stat...a_meth2007.gif. This has oddly enough brought strength to the latino gangs across the nation, especially MS-13, though I have no idea about anything relating to what gangs exist or do not in North Dakota.

[krotzmc]

I'm a realtor in Grand Forks; and we have had the law enforcement officials attend the Board of Realtors to educate us on this problem. I guess meth is a problem; altho in the GF/EGF area I personally am only aware of 3-4 homes in the past 5 years or sothat had had meth production going on in them that were subsequently listed for sale. My understanding is the problem is much larger in the outlying small towns and rural areas; but even then I don't think the average Jo is going to encounter much of it on a first-hand basis.

[southfargo]

I would have to say i have been caught up in many of the drug seens in fargo. A couple years back meth was a bigger problem then you might have thought... but it was easy replaced by "ectasy" which is very popular among the highschool age students now. we have always had marijuana in fargo, but in the last 6 to 8 years i has gains in quality, which i dont mind. Mushrooms are not hard to find are widely avalible, but not as much as marijuana. what i find the bigger problem is the substitution on marijuana use with extasy and pharmisuticals... since extasy is easy hidden and cant be tested in your system as long... depending on what type of EXC you get. Also a upcomming problem is also perscription medication such as hydrocodon, and oxycotten, which are deprived from the opium plant such as haroin, but perseaved as saver since made in a lab... we do have problems in fargo.. not just downtown fargo. but it is at par with many other cities around the usa, in california, to maryland. but one thing that makes us diffrent is our widely actcepted use of alcohal which should be the last of our worrys in the Fargo/Moorhead area. i hope i have straitend out some of these misperseptions of this fine city/culture we live in.