Illicit drug use continues to remain a problem in the state according to a recent report from the Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy. In the newly released 2018 Iowa Drug Control Strategy, marijuana remains the most widely used narcotic, but opioid and methamphetamine use continues to trend upwards. Last year, 86 deaths were caused by opioid overdoses and 25 percent of substance abuse patients cited methamphetamine or marijuana as the reason for their treatment. “Similar to the DEA’s recent national drug threat assessment, new state data illustrates a widening impact of the opioid epidemic in Iowa, along with more methamphetamine trafficking and use,” says the Director of the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, Steve Lukan. Dealeracs are selling more powerful and cheaper drugs to increase illegal profits, which also adds to the number of drug-related deaths. Not all the trends are bad. Meth labs are now relatively rare. Only 85 were located last year compared to 1,500 in 2004. Iowa maintains one of the lowest overall rates of illegal drug use in the U.S. at about six percent, well below the national average of almost 10 percent. The full report can be found by following the link included below this story.
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