South Carolina

It should be noted that these South Carolina drug statistics are not intended as an academic reference. The data collected is from State and Federal sources.

South Carolina Addiction Treatment Statistics

In 2010, there were 27,802 people who entered drug and alcohol rehab in South Carolina. 68.3% were male and 31.7% were female.

In 2006, there were 104 drug and alcohol facilities in South Carolina.

In the most recent Survey, 7% of South Carolina residents reported using illicit drugs in the past month; the national average was 8.02%. Additionally, 3.09% of South Carolina residents reported using an illicit drug other than marijuana in the past month (the national average was 3.58%).

In 2010, the data indicates that marijuana is the most commonly cited drug among primary drug treatment admissions in South Carolina, surpassing primary treatment admissions for stimulants (including methamphetamine) and other opiates (including many prescription drugs).

Alcohol Addiction in South Carolina

There were 11,571 people admitted into treatment for alcohol in 2010 as the primary abused substance and an additional 5,034 people admitted for alcohol combined with a secondary drug.

Commonly Abused Drugs in South Carolina

Drug abuse is a national epidemic and the numbers are continuing to rise. Heroin is becoming the cheaper replacement for opiates as states continue to crack down on the “pill mills” making the cost of opiates too expensive.

Cocaine
1,377 people were admitted to substance abuse treatment for smoking cocaine while an additional 577 people were admitted for ingesting cocaine through other means than smoking.

Marijuana
In 2010, the data shows that marijuana is the most commonly cited drug among primary drug treatment admissions in South Carolina. There were 6,085 people admitted into drug rehabs for marijuana dependence. Of that number, 68.2% were male and 31.8% were female. Individuals 12-17 years of age were the largest demographic admitted to treatment for marijuana abuse in South Carolina.

Methamphetamines
Although there has been a decrease in methamphetamine abuse in the state of South Carolina, there were 560 people admitted into drug treatment in 2010.

Prescription Drugs
Prescription drugs continue to be a national problem. In 2010, there were 1,982 people admitted for treatment for opiates other than heroin.

South Carolina Drug and Alcohol Fatalities, Injuries and Drug Court Statistics

As a direct consequence of drug use, 584 persons died in South Carolina in 2007. This is compared to the number of persons in South Carolina who died from motor vehicle accidents (1,062) and firearms (592) in the same year.

The number of meth lab seizure incidents in South Carolina increased 231% from 26 incidents in 2007 to 86 incidents in 2009, according to data from the El Paso Intelligence Center’s National Seizure System (EPIC-NSS).

The rate of drug-induced deaths in South Carolina exceeds the national average.

South Carolina Drug and Alcohol Addiction Resources

• Alcoholics Anonymous (go to the AA main page, click on find a meeting, follow link to state pages, click on South Carolina)
• Narcotics Anonymous
• Alanon and Alateen Family Group