North Carolina Rehab
North Carolina is renowned for its role in American aviation history, being the site of the Wright brothers’ famous first flight. It is also treasured for its beautiful landscape and Blue Ridge Mountains hiking trails. However, the state has been heavily impacted by the rise of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, seeing increasing substance misuse and addiction issues.
North Carolina offers a broad spectrum of addiction treatment services, such as residential programs, outpatient care, medically supervised detoxification, and specialized treatment for co-occurring mental health disorders. Facilities known as Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Centres offer crisis response services, including detoxification, supporting individuals’ transition into community-based care.
The state’s Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act aims to monitor and control inappropriate opioid prescribing. This act and other legislation aimed at expanding access to treatment facilities are part of North Carolina’s comprehensive approach to substance misuse prevention. The state’s efforts continue to pay off, seeing a significant decrease in fatal overdoses at a greater rate than the national average.
Drug Use Statistics in North Carolina
North Carolina has a population of 11,046,024 people. The most recent data from the 2023-2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) found that approximately 1,217,000 people over the age of 12 had used illegal substances in the past month, around 11.02% of the population. 1,086,000 reported marijuana use in the past month and 1,569,000 in the past year.
The report also found that 119,000 North Carolina residents had used cocaine in the past year, 56,000 had used meth, and 261,000 had misused prescription pain medication. 17,000 people over the age of 18 reported using heroin in the last year. Those reporting opioid misuse, including heroin, painkillers, and fentanyl, in North Carolina totaled 266,000 people.
Alcohol Use in North Carolina
Alcohol misuse was also reported in North Carolina with 4,159,000 people over the age of 12 saying they had used alcohol in the last month and 1,789,000 reporting binge drinking. The perceived risk of people over 12 years of age indulging in problematic alcohol use (5 or more drinks twice a week) in a month was 4,308,000 people.
Addiction Treatment Statistics in North Carolina
The NSDUH report also recorded the total number of substance use disorders in North Carolina and those who currently require treatment. The report found that approximately 1,367,000 were recorded as having a substance use disorder (SUD) and 890,000 had an alcohol use disorder. 163,000 people were recorded as having an OUD, including those with painkiller, heroin, and other opioid-based drug use disorders.
The NSDUH report also measures the gap between the people who need SUD treatment and those who actually receive it. It found that 1,580,000 people in North Carolina were classified as needing treatment in the past year, 391,000 received treatment for an SUD, and 1,200,000 did not receive the treatment they were classified as needing.
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- 2023-2024 NSDUH: Model-Based Estimated Totals for States (in Thousands). (2026, February 4). Samhsagov. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2023-2024-nsduh-estimated-totals-state
- Index of /programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2024/state/totals. (2020). Census.Gov. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2024/state/totals/
- CDC NCHS, Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts (2026). Cdc.Gov. https://data.cdc.gov/d/xkb8-kh2a