US States Ranked: How Commonly People Use Drugs to Relax

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A new poll was put out by Gallop-Healthways to survey people from every U.S. state about how often they used drugs or medication to affect their mood or help them relax. The definition of drug was left up to the respondents, but could include prescription drugs, recreational drugs, alcohol or nicotine.

Here is the full list of states ranked by the percent of people who reported using drugs to relax almost every day.

2. Rhode Island: 25.9 percent

3. Kentucky: 24.5 percent

4. Alabama: 24.2 percent

5. Louisiana: 22.9 percent

6. South Carolina: 22.8 percent

7. Mississippi: 22.3 percent

8. Missouri: 22.2 percent

9. Indiana: 22.1 percent

10. Oregon: 21.9 percent

11. Pennsylvania: 21.6 percent

12. Arkansas: 21.6 percent

13. Oklahoma: 21.5 percent

14. Michigan: 21.5 percent

15. Tennessee: 21.5 percent

16. Ohio: 21.3 percent

17. Vermont: 20.1 percent

18. Wisconsin: 20 percent

19. Florida: 19.6 percent

20. Massachusetts: 19.5 percent

21. Iowa: 19.4 percent

22. North Carolina: 19.1 percent

23. Nevada: 19.1 percent

24. Idaho: 19 percent

25. Georgia: 18.7 percent

26. New Mexico: 18.4 percent

27. Kansas: 18.4 percent

28. Delaware: 18.4 percent

29. Nebraska: 18.3 percent

30. Connecticut: 18.2 percent

31. Maine: 18.1 percent

32. New Hampshire: 18.1 percent

33. Montana: 17.7 percent

34. Virginia: 17.7 percent

35. Arizona: 17.6 percent

36. Washington: 17.6 percent

37. Minnesota: 17.5 percent

38. South Dakota: 17.4 percent

39. New York: 17.4 percent

40. Hawaii: 17.3 percent

41. Maryland: 17.3 percent

42. Utah: 16.8 percent

43. Colorado: 16.7 percent

44. Texas: 16.7 percent

45. New Jersey: 16.5 percent

46. North Dakota: 16.4 percent

47. Illinois: 16 percent

48. California: 15.8 percent

49. Wyoming: 15.5 percent

50. Alaska: 13.5 percent

Tanya Lewis
Tanya Lewis
Staff Writer
Tanya was a staff writer for Live Science from 2013 to 2015, covering a wide array of topics, ranging from neuroscience to robotics to strange/cute animals. She received a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a bachelor of science in biomedical engineering from Brown University. She has previously written for Science News, Wired, The Santa Cruz Sentinel, the radio show Big Picture Science and other places. Tanya has lived on a tropical island, witnessed volcanic eruptions and flown in zero gravity (without losing her lunch!). To find out what her latest project is, you can visit her website.