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Drug Abuse Warning Network

Mission Statement

Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) is a large-scale, ongoing drug abuse data collection system sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The major objectives of the system are: to identify substances associated with drug-related episodes and deaths that are reported to emergency departments and medical examiners; to monitor trends in drug use consequences and to detect new drugs of abuse; and to assess health hazards associated with drug use. The universe for the emergency department component of DAWN is drug-related visits to emergency departments of acute care hospitals in the United States and the universe for the medical examiner component is drug-related deaths reported by 145 medical examiner jurisdictions in 43 metropolitan areas. DAWN is a continuous survey. Since 1988, the DAWN emergency department data have been collected from a representative sample of about 500 hospitals in the United States, including 21 over-sampled metropolitan areas. The DAWN medical examiner data are not nationally representative. DAWN's primary audience is government agencies, legislators, pharmaceutical manufacturers, universities, and researchers.

Contact Information

Drug Abuse Warning Network
Parklawn Building, Room 16C-095600 Fishers Lane
Rockville MD 20857

Phone: (301) 443-1596 Media Calls
Toll-free Phone: (800) FYI-DAWN
Fax: 301-443-9847
Website: https://dawninfo.samhsa.gov/default.asp

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