Report issued on drug problems by state; Where Massachusetts ranked may surprise you

With COVID-19 restrictions leading to drug use relapses or overdoses, and SAMHSA’s National Prevention Week in full swing, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on the States with the Biggest Drug Problems in 2020.

The study compares the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of 22 key metrics, ranging from arrest and overdose rates to opioid prescriptions and employee drug testing laws.

Massachusetts came in 15th overall with Rhode Island right behind in 16th place.

According to the statistics tallied by WalletHub, Massachusetts fared well when it came to fewest opioid prescriptions per 100 people and drug arrests per capita as the Bay State ranked 47th and 50th respectively. Where Massachusetts struggled was in highest percentage of teen drug users in the past month with a 4th place ranking.

Over the three major categories in the report, drug use and addiction, law enforcement, and drug health issues/rehab, Massachusetts ranked 15th, 24th, and 30th.

In order to determine which states have the biggest drug problems, WalletHub compared those three main categories.

Those categories include a total of 22 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the biggest drug problem.

WalletHub then determined each state and the District’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score. This total score was the basis for the final ranking. So the state ranked 1st in this study has the biggest drug problem, based on the data at hand, while the state ranked 51st has the smallest drug problem.

For more on the report, click here.