
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 5, 1992                   TAG: 9203050289
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

SUBSTANCE ABUSES LESSENING

State mental hospitals in Virginia are admitting fewer substance abusers, but officials say those who are admitted are younger and more violent.

The state Mental Health Board said 2,823 alcoholics and drug abusers were treated as inpatients in state facilities last year, down from 3,401 in 1981.

Jacqui Ennis, an assistant commissioner with the Virginia Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, said abusers are getting younger.

In 1981, patients aged 26 to 40 accounted for 35.4 percent of substance abuse admissions. A decade later, that age group accounted for 50.9 percent of the admissions.

In 1981, the under-18 age group accounted for 1 percent of the admissions, compared with 3.8 percent in 1991. This represented a 218 percent increase, Ennis said.

Also in 1981, 10 percent of patients with substance abuse problems had used illicit drugs, while the rest were alcoholics. By last year, the number with drug problems had risen to 25 percent.

Alcohol was the most-often abused substance in 1981.

"In 1991, the gap between drug abuse and alcohol abuse has narrowed. While there still are more alcoholics, the drug abusers are closing the gap," Ennis told the Mental Health Board.

She said she put the "snapshot" study together after some state hospital workers said substance abuse admissions appeared to be increasing. The figures don't necessarily reflect what's happening in Virginia's communities, she said.

Her statistics, which were compiled from eight mental health facilities, don't include data from private substance-abuse treatment facilities or from community facilities.

"The alcoholics of 1981 were very tame in comparison with 1991. The drug abusers of 1991 are more violent," she said.

She cited the behavior of drug abusers, particularly those who use crack cocaine.

"Cocaine abusers tend to have unpredictable and violent behaviors," Ennis said. "Police can give examples of that. It's very hard to take down a crack abuser."

by CNB