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Men's Substance Abuse Facts and Statistics
Substance use is correlated with mental health issues like depression and anxiety, as well as learning and memory problems, impaired social relationships, and increased risk of disease and death.
2,357 Illinois men lost their lives to opioid overdose in 2022, which is 72.3% of the 3,261 Illinois lives lost to opioid overdose.
- Unfortunately, this figure has continued to trend higher in recent years, with gradual increases each year since 2019, when 1,685 men died from overdose.
Drug use is on the rise in general, including illicit opioids, methamphetamine, and cocaine. This has led to increased death rates and a record 12-month rolling number exceeding 110,000 deaths between August 2022 and August 2023.
- Cocaine overdose has risen each year since 2012.
- Methamphetamine overdose has increased by more than 500% for ages 25-54 between 2011 and 2018.
- In a 2021 survey by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 17.24% of Illinois residents aged 12 and older reported participating in illicit drug use in the past 30 days.
Alcohol Abuse
- Approximately 178,000 people die from excessive use each year in the United States.
- Men typically drink more often and in larger amounts (binge drinking), with increased rates of alcohol-related hospitalization, deaths, motor-vehicle crashes, and chronic diseases like cancer, liver disease, and decreased sexual function and fertility.
- In combination with other social factors and gender norms, alcohol leads to increased risk-taking behaviors, injury, and sexual violence.
- Excessive use can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease, liver disease, cancer, and stroke.
2019-2022 Illinois Overdose Deaths by Males and Females
Death counts as reported by the Statewide Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS) operated by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Overdose death counts include opioids, synthetic opioids, and drugs like alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, and Xylazine.
