New research suggests that nearly one in five Americans takes a drug to help them remain calm, NBC reports. The Gallup Poll findings, which included calls to more than 176,000 adults nationwide, showed that most who admitted to taking a drug to relax lived in both low income and happiness states. The research director of the Gallup-Healthways' well-being index, Dan Witters, believes that the rates exceed what was reported.
"I think it is reasonable to assume that some respondents may be understating their use just because they are talking to a live human being on the other side of the phone," Witters told NBC.
Alaskans reported the least drug use, with 13.5 percent saying they use drugs to calm down, according to the article.
After West Virginia (28 percent), the states which reported the highest daily drug use were:
- Rhode Island (26 percent)
- Kentucky (24.5 percent)
- Alabama (24.2 percent)
- Louisiana (22.9 percent)
- South Carolina (22.8 percent)
- Mississippi, Missouri and Indiana (22 percent)
- Oregon (21.9 percent).