Using our interactive chartsTreatment data from the Washington State Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery reflect publicly funded treatment for which the primary substance is listed as heroin, oxy/hydrocodone, prescribed opiate substitute, non-prescription methadone, or other opiate. Treatment may be via outpatient, intensive inpatient, recovery house, long-term residential, and opiate substitution modalities. Treatment data reflect a what might be shifting priorities for public treatment authorities and shifting funding along with changes in problematic use rates. Due to the current policy context, most buprenorphine-assisted treatment is privately funded, so these trends are a substantial under-estimate of medication-assisted treatment in the county. Department of Corrections treatment is excluded. First admissions are those for which no prior publicly funded treatment for any drug, regardless of modality, is found for the individual. Records go back to approximately 2000 and are available through 2015.
Initial treatment admissions can be seen as a measure of incidence, or new cases in a year. With opiates, this represents people who sought or were referred for treatment for the first time, for whom treatment may be a years-long process. A 20-year-old entering treatment in 2010 may well become a 40-year-old still in treatment in 2030. We present initial treatment admissions for any opiate by age. Click the 'Expand' button to break the largest age group, 18- to 29-year-olds, into smaller groups.
Buprenorphine is an alternative to methadone for medication-assisted treatment of opiate addiction. It is available by prescription from an authorized physician. Data from the state Prescription Monitoring Program for 2013 includes the ZIP Code of residence of the person receiving the prescription. In the map below, we present rates of prescriptions per 100,000 residents in the (US Census version of the) ZIP Code.
