Official crime rates and hospital figures give an insight into drug abuse across the US, but the data Google reaps can also reveal just how prevalent the spread of an illicit substance truly is.
A team of researchers used Google Trends, which tracks trending topics over time, to see how the popularity of different drugs has changed in the country over the past decade.
It found that searches for crystal meth are steadily rising, heroin is considered an ‘epidemic’ in Pennsylvania, and prescription drugs such as Xanax and Adderall dominate the south.
Witdrawal.net used Google Trends to track the popularity of drug searches since 2004 (pictured), including methamphetamine, cocaine, Xanax, Adderall and heroin. Between 2004 and 2008, the popularity of cocaine and meth is shown. From 2006, searches for heroin increased in Maryland and Utah, in particular
he graphics were created by detox and rehab site Withdrawal.net.
A team of researchers used the trending tool to track the popularity of drug searches since 2004, including methamphetamine (crystal meth), cocaine, Xanax, Adderall and heroin.
The team then plotted the most searched for drugs across the US.
Between 2004 and 2008, the popularity of cocaine and methamphetamine (meth) is shown across the US, with states switching between the two over the course of each year.
Methamphetamine was reported as one of the most commonly abused drugs during the 2000s, and with a lower street price and a more intense high, meth surpassed cocaine as it swept across middle America.
From 2006, searches for heroin increased in Maryland and Utah, in particular.
Searches for Xanax first appeared in around 2009, and grew in popularity until around 2012, when they dipped, before rising again a year later.
In 2010, Adderall, a prescription stimulant, became a popular substance of abuse.
After its 2005 to 2006 peak, interest in meth then once again soared.
In particular, 2013 and 2014 were the years when searches for meth took over the US, especially the west, while Adderall dominated the eastern states.
And as addictive prescription painkillers have become more tightly regulated, heroin has become an increasingly popular substitute in Pennsylvania and Oregon.
Another graph shows that cocaine has consistently been the most searched for drug across the US for the past decade.
Adderall was the only drug that came close to the number of cocaine searches between 2011 and 2012.
Heroin was steadily searched for from 2004 until 2011, at which point searches began to rise and peaked in 2014.
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