Is Smoking or Drinking a Big Problem?

Abuse of drugs and alcohol in Washington is on the rise, according to the state Department of Social and Health Services. But smoking and methamphetamine abuse in this State is on the decline, is the good news. In a study was shown that in Washington, heavy drinking has increased from a rate fewer than 5 percent of the over-18 population in 2004 to 6.1 percent in 2007.

David Albert, senior planner and policy analyst for the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, said that the statistics about drinking could not be exact. He reported that state officials are not sure if problem drinking goes down during a recession, or just drinking in general. The economy's impact on drug use is just as difficult to track because the use of individual drugs can change so much over a short period of time, Albert said.

In Washington smoking rates and methamphetamine use are two of the few bright spots in the 2008. But smoking among adults and teens, both men and women, is down. Lung cancer death rates are also declining. The deaths related to methamphetamine use have risen in the Seattle-King County area, but in Washington the number of reported methamphetamine laboratories has fallen. The results of a new healthy youth survey come out in March and Albert said he expects that report will show prescription opiate abuse continuing to increase among young people. And the biggest drug problem in the state involves a legal drug: alcohol..

By 12th grade, almost one-fifth of Washington students are already problem drinkers, defined as six or more days of drinking in a 30-day period or two incidents of binge drinking in a two-week period, the report said.