While Oklahoma’s rate of alcohol dependency runs below the national average, adults over the age of 25 may well find themselves hunting an Oklahoma drug and alcohol treatment program at some point in their lives. The rate of drug dependency in that age group is well above the national norm and climbing. This is driven in large part by the widespread availability and use of methamphetamine, the primary drug of concern in Oklahoma, ahead of cocaine and marijuana. The state has succeeded in all but stopping the proliferation of meth labs in Oklahoma, but a flood of meth continues to pour in through Texas from Mexico.

Consequently, admissions to Oklahoma drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation centers show a marked trend away from alcohol toward drugs. Drug-only admissions have shot up from 1.6% in 1992 to 20% in 2006. This alarming trend echoes the increasing efforts of Mexican drug cartels and local street gangs to expand their markets, capitalizing on Oklahoma’s low rates of perceived risk for certain drugs like marijuana, as well as the much newer and explosive demand for prescription drugs. Abuse of prescription drugs is expanding everywhere in Oklahoma, thanks to doctor shopping, indiscriminate writing of prescriptions by unscrupulous doctors, and diversion from pharmacies of legitimate drugs based on hydrocodone and oxycodone. Drug and alcohol rehab centers in Oklahoma need to be agile to keep up.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Issues At-A-Glance, Oklahoma
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),  December 2008

As of 2006, the most recent year for which data is available, there were 176 drug and alcohol treatment facilities in Oklahoma. Of these, 15 were owned by tribal governments, 29 were private for-profit, and the remainder were private nonprofit. About 65% received public funding of some kind, and 36 contracted their services to hospitals and other organizations, so that state residents have broad access to substance abuse treatment. In Oklahoma, however, the number of opioid programs is limited, and therefore a local facility may not offer all services required to properly treat a particular addiction. Just eight treatment facilities in Oklahoma, as of 2006, offered opioid programs, and only 45 physicians were certified to administer buprenorphine, a controlled drug used to treat addiction to opiates. Since methadone, also used for opiate addiction, is one of the most frequently abused prescription drugs in the state, Oklahoma takes great care to not make the problem worse by indiscriminately licensing clinics.

According to studies, young people in Oklahoma are much more likely than adults to perceive marijuana as a low-risk sort of drug, yet admissions to Oklahoma rehab facilities show the opposite is true. Marijuana and amphetamine admissions both top alcohol, once the number one substance abused in the state. Over 45% of all Oklahoma high school students had tried marijuana at least once; 7% had tried meth. Parents who do not want to find themselves hunting rehab facilities in Oklahoma or somewhere else should educate themselves on the local drug threats, the signs and symptoms of drug abuse, and the types of parties and clubs their children attend. Raves and their attendant club drugs are not unknown in Oklahoma.

Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse
State of Oklahoma Profile of Drug Indicators
October  2008

The best drug and alcohol treatment centers in the world cannot help if addicts do not seek help. Modern drugs are so highly addictive, so insidious in their effects, that vigilance is important; early intervention and treatment even more so.