Denton Treatment Centers

Denton, Texas, is home to around 80,537 individuals. It is found in Denton County and it is around 28 miles from Plano and 23 miles from Carrollton. During the 1990s, there was an increase in its population of around 22%. Today, the population continues to grow quite rapidly, at a rate of around 4.9% per year. Denton is known for its active music scene. Unfortunately, this is often coupled with increased rates of drug and alcohol abuse, and this is a significant problem within the city. That being said, there are two positive correlations between crime and substance abuse, particularly with property crimes and violent crimes. And, while property crimes are indeed higher in Denton than in Texas as a whole, violent crimes are significantly lower.

Substance Abuse Statistics in Denton, TX

Denton public health officials have used the results of the last National Survey on Drug Use and Health to determine the perceived risk of substance abuse in the city. What they found was that:

• 53.1% of young people aged between 12 and 17 perceived cannabis use as a risky behavior. What has officials worried about this statistic is that it is a decrease from the 55% during the previous count in 2005.
• 73.9% of young people believed using LSD was classed as a risky behavior. Again, this was a decline from the last count, when it stood at 76.1%.
• 69.7% of young people believed alcohol and tobacco consumption was a risk. This was an increase from the previous count, when it stood at 63.1%. This would suggest that the prevention and intervention methods in place to avoid tobacco and alcohol are having a positive effect.
• 40.5% of young people believed that binge drinking was a form of risky behavior, up from 38.2% at the last count, which is further evidence that prevention and intervention efforts have been effective.

Denton authorities also investigated the links between substance abuse and criminal behavior. What they found was that 22.8% of those released on parole used illicit substances. This compared to 8.4% of adults who were not on parole. This is why more money has been invested in the Denton County DWI/Drug Court, whereby people who suffer from dependency or addiction are court ordered to seek treatment through detox and rehab facilities if they want to avoid a prison sentence.

Lastly, the city has investigated its current prescription drug abuse problem. One reason for this is that it has been demonstrated that many of those who abuse prescription drugs go on to abuse heroin, which is more readily available and more affordable. To fight prescription drug abuse, the City of Denton runs a Drug Disposal initiative, encouraging people to return unused prescription drugs. This has been reasonably successful, but has given rise to more fears about heroin abuse. What was found in terms of prescription drug abuse was that:

• 2.5% of the population currently abuse prescription medication, representing a decrease from 2.8% at the 2007 count.
• 1.9% of the population abuse prescription painkillers, in particular, which is a small decrease from the last count, when it was 2.1%.