Results tagged “druguse”

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), who famously crashed his car near the U.S. Capitol three years ago while under the influence of prescription drugs, has checked into a rehabilitation facility, the Associated Press is reporting. "I have decided to temporarily step away from my normal routine to ensure that I am being as vigilant as possible in my recovery," Kennedy said in a statement today. His office isn't giving out any more information about exactly what he's being treated for, but the congressman has previously sought treatment for bipolar disorder, alcohol and prescription drug abuse.

We were definitely just as surprised as City Desk to hear that D.C. is at the top of the country (by a pretty big margin) in cocaine use. Having lived in Los Angeles for about the same amount of time that I've now lived here, it certainly doesn't seem like there's nearly as much cocaine around as in that city, let alone as say, New York. D.C.'s full of square federal employees with security clearances to worry over, isn't it? But take a closer look at the full study. First of all, it's another one of those ones that compares D.C., an entirely urban district, with states, which are made up of both cities and large swaths of suburban and rural areas. Second, there's no separate category in this survey for crack (or any other illicit drug besides marijuana, for that matter), so it appears that is included under the "cocaine" banner. My bet is that strict cocaine use in D.C. is nowhere near as rampant as this study makes it out to be when compared to other large metropolitan areas.