The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) is a nationally representative public health surveillance system that continuously monitors hospital drug-related emergency department (ED) visits and drug-related deaths reported by select coroner and medical examiner offices across the country. All types of drugs (licit and illicit) are covered, including all alcohol involvement for patients under 21, and alcohol involvement in combination with other substances for those 21 and older. Variables in DAWN provide details on the ED visit, including type of case, case disposition, drug involvement, route of administration, and the number of unique drugs reported.

A report summarizing the Highlights of the 2010 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Findings on Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits is available from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The 2004 through 2009 DAWN ED public-use data and documentation files are also available on the SAMHDA Web site for download and online analysis.

The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) is a nationally representative public health surveillance system that continuously monitors hospital drug-related ED visits. DAWN uses a probability sample of hospitals to annually produce estimates of drug-related ED visits for the United States and selected metropolitan areas. Any ED visit related to recent drug use is included in DAWN and all types of drugs (licit and illicit) are covered, including all alcohol involvement in patients under age 21 and alcohol involvement in combination with other substances in those age 21 and older.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the agency responsible for DAWN.

The 2006 through 2009 DAWN public-use data and documentation files are also available on the SAMHDA Web site for download and online analysis. SAMHDA plans to release the 2010 DAWN in the upcoming weeks.

Learn more about DAWN on the DAWN series home page.