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Overview of Fall River's
substance abuse data

Fall River has the highest rate of treatment admissions for substance abuse of any community in Massachusetts, including Boston. This reflects the ready supply of alcohol and other substances in the area as well as a generational history of abuse.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the age-adjusted death rate from alcohol and other drug use in Fall River is more than double the state average (31.6 vs.14.8). The Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS)  reports that among admissions to all of its publicly-funded treatment programs, Fall River residents are admitted at more than double  the average “crude” rate (218%) for Massachusetts communities. Of the Fall River residents admitted to these programs, injection drug use is reported at more than four times the average among admissions from other communities in the state  (BSAS, 2003).

Fall River is at the epicenter of the heroin epidemic, and reflects a disproportionate share of substance abuse-related problems. Cheap and very pure heroin as well as the increasing availability of narcotic analgesics like oxycontin contributes to a growing crisis in addiction-related problems. Massachusetts has the highest proportion of heroin treatment admissions of the New England states, with an admission rate that is three times the national average. Statewide, the annual number of opioid related fatal overdoses increased almost five times between 1990 and 2000, from about 100 in 1990 to 487 in 2000. These numbers reflect only those overdoses that were fatal and that were reported to the state as fatal overdoses. Hospital discharge data show that opioid related hospitalizations in Massachusetts nearly doubled between 1994 and 2002. (MA DPH Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, Heroin Use and Treatment, 2003).

Injection drug use is the primary cause of AIDS in Fall River and as many as three-quarters of the city’s thefts, robberies and murders are associated with alcohol and illicit drugs. 

Five instant topic reports contain data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) organized by indicators such as smoking rates, binge drinking, overweight and obesity and activity.

A very complete report combining health status indicators from a variety of sources into one document that covers Fall River and Southeastern Mass.

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