Drugs of Abuse Data Trends

Non-prescription opioids include: heroin, fentanyl, fentanyl analogs (i.e., carfentanil, acetyl fentanyl).

Overall Trends

• Non-prescription opioid cases increased dramatically over the period, becoming the dominant category by 2017 and rising sharply again in 2020.

• Prescription opioid cases steadily declined from 2014 through 2018, then rose slightly in 2019 and 2020.

• Benzodiazepine cases showed a consistent downward trend across the years.

Overall Trends By Category

All Non-Prescription Opioids (blue)

Very low in 2014–2015, increased sharply starting in 2016, peaked in 2017, dipped slightly in 2018–2019, and surged to the highest level in 2020.

All Prescription Opioids (orange):

Declined each year from 2014 to 2018, then showed a modest rebound in 2019 and remained relatively stable in 2020.

Benzodiazepines (gray):

Highest in 2014, followed by a steady decline each year through 2020.

Key Takeaways:

The data illustrate a shift away from prescription opioids and benzodiazepines toward non-prescription (often illicit) opioids, with a particularly sharp increase in non-prescription opioid cases by 2020.

The West Virginia Poison Center tracks overdoses of all drugs of abuse, not just opioids. This is important as many of these drugs and substances of abuse can cause serious injury or death in addition to risks for violence, crime, and addiction. In addition, decreases in the use of one drug or substance of abuse results in increases in the use of another drug or substance for the same purpose.

For 2020, note the substantial decrease in the number of cases involving gabapentin, but the increase in marijuana and methamphetamine.