DRUG ABUSE SENDING MORE PEOPLE TO EMERGENCY ROOMS

Emergency-room visits after drug use rose 12 percent in the Twin Cities
area and to record levels in other metropolitan areas last year, partly
because of more incidents involving heroin and Ecstasy, a survey says.

The survey of hospital emergency rooms in 21 metro areas showed increases
in drug-related visits in seven, including the Twin Cities -- and declines
in two. The others stayed about the same as their 1999 totals, according to
the report released Wednesday by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration.

The annual report recorded 601,776 emergency-room trips related to drugs in
2000, up from 554,932 a year earlier and the highest since the statistics
were first collected in the mid-1980s. Visits related to heroin use
increased 15 percent, and those related to the club drug Ecstasy increased
58 percent.

Club drugs are so-called because of their growing popularity among young
people who use them at dance clubs.

Although the Twin Cities area still had one of the lowest rates of
drug-related emergency-room visits, at 214 episodes per 100,000 population,
the number rose 12 percent compared with the previous year. The increase
was fueled by increases in visits involving heroin and morphine, which
increased 14 percent to 237, and marijuana-hashish visits, which increased
28 percent to 803.

Carol Falkowski, director of research communications at the Hazelden
Foundation near Center City, Minn., said the increase in marijuana-related
emergencies probably reflects an increase in the use of other drugs.
Marijuana alone, she said, rarely sends users to an emergency room. But
it's often used with drugs such as PCP and crack cocaine, which frequently
do, she said.

A 12 percent increase in drug-related emergencies reflects the magnitude of
drug abuse, she said. "And it also underscores the need for health
professionals to stay ahead of the curve in terms of education."

An analysis she conducted of the agency's 1999 data showed that the number
of hospital emergencies related to the club drug GHB has increased sharply
in the Twin Cities. It ranked fourth nationally, and still ranks fifth,
according to the newest data.

Other metro areas reporting increases in overall drug-related
emergency-room trips: Seattle, by 32 percent; Boston, 28 percent; Los
Angeles, 22 percent; Miami, 20 percent; Chicago, 16 percent, and Phoenix, 9
percent.

There were decreases in Baltimore, which dropped 19 percent, and San
Francisco, which dropped 12 percent.

- -- Staff writer Josephine Marcotty contributed to this report.