Drug & Alcohol Rehab For Rising Sun, Indiana

Rising Sun, Indiana, is a small city on the eastern state border with Kentucky, along the Ohio River. It lies within Randolph Township and serves as the seat of Ohio County. Unlike many cities and towns of its size, Rising Sun offers a little something for everyone. It features picturesque, historical downtown streets, a lively casino, nature trails, and waterfront views.

Unfortunately, the beautiful city has fallen on hard times in recent years. The median household income in Rising Sun is low for Indiana ($54,821), while the poverty rate is 13.6%, which is slightly higher than Indiana’s average poverty rate of 12.3%. [1] These economic issues have only exacerbated the ongoing substance abuse crisis in Rising Sun, Indiana.

Based on the most recent data, alcohol, marijuana, and meth are the most commonly abused substances in Rising Sun, Indiana. The city also sees the abuse of other addictive substances, such as prescription opioids, cocaine, and heroin.

Continue reading to learn about substance abuse and addiction in Rising Sun, Indiana. And remember, if you or a loved one is fighting addiction in Rising Sun or the surrounding area, you can always reach out to Addiction Rehab Centers for help.

Drug and Alcohol Addiction in Rising Sun

Rising Sun has a population of just 2,248, but it’s also located in the smallest county (by number of people and square mileage) in the state of Indiana. Ohio County covers just 87 square miles and has a population of 5,996. That means Rising Sun accounts for 37% of the total county population. While Ohio County has various townships and unincorporated communities, Rising Sun is the only incorporated city in the county.

All of this matters because substance abuse data is collected and aggregated at the county level in Indiana. In other words, all substance abuse cases that occur in Ohio County are combined so that the data can be more easily analyzed. It also means that the origin of each case is unknown.

However, given the fact that Rising Sun accounts for more than one-third of the county (by population), it stands to reason that a large percentage of substance abuse cases (arrests, overdoses, and fatalities) originate in the city of Rising Sun. By some estimates, the city contributes more than half of all substance abuse cases to the figures recorded in Ohio County. For this reason, we feel confident evaluating the county-level data to get a better understanding of the substance abuse crisis in the city of Rising Sun.

Fatal overdoses are typically where we begin our research, but in such a small county as Ohio County, the figures are quite low. In fact, they’re so low that it’s difficult to extract much information from the dataset. The table below shows how deaths involving all drugs (including alcohol) have changed in the county over the past few years. [2]

*Data for 2024 is provisional and may be subject to change. The last date that data was collected was 05/21/2025.

While it’s obvious that there are not many fatal overdoses recorded in Rising Sun and Ohio County, it’s important to consider these figures in relation to the total population. There are counties in Indiana with four times as many people and similar fatal overdose data. As a result, these figures are actually quite high for the population size. 2023, for example, saw 4 fatal overdoses, which would equate to a fatality rate of 66 people per 100,000 residents. According to the CDC, the national average of fatal overdoses is 31.3 per 100,000 people. [3]

The data for fatal overdoses is eye-opening, even if it doesn’t show any patterns in how substance abuse is evolving in the area. This is why we turn to non-fatal overdoses for a better understanding of the substance abuse crisis. Non-fatal overdoses are far more common than fatal overdoses. Data related to non-fatal overdoses also tends to be a bit more reliable, as it’s collected via hospital discharges and emergency department visits involving addictive substances. The table below shows the relevant overdose data in Ohio County between 2016 and 2024: [4]

*Data for 2024 is provisional and may be subject to change. The last date that data was collected was 05/21/2025.

What’s surprising about Ohio County’s non-fatal overdose data is that it’s relatively low. Non-fatal overdoses have generally been in decline since 2016, with a few random years that saw higher figures, like 2018 and 2023. While the data for 2024 is not finalized, if it remains unchanged, it means that non-fatal overdoses dropped by 50% between 2016 and 2024.

This also brings up the important correlation between fatal overdoses, non-fatal overdoses, and total overdoses (fatal plus non-fatal). The numbers in Rising Sun and the rest of Ohio County are shocking compared to other areas throughout Indiana. In 2016, Ohio County recorded 12 total overdoses, 2 of which were fatal (16.6%). By 2023, the latest year with finalized data, Ohio County recorded 13 total overdoses, 4 of which were fatal (30.7%). These fatality rates are extremely high, as most other counties have single-digit fatality rates. The high fatality rate could indicate a lack of local resources to reach those experiencing overdoses and administer emergency care in time.

Types of Substance Abuse in Rising Sun

In 2023 and 2024, alcohol, marijuana, and meth were the most abused substances in Ohio County. Like most of Indiana, alcohol is the most abused substance in the county by far, though its prevalence has declined in recent years. This has occurred in many Indiana counties, as illicit drugs like marijuana, meth, and heroin have risen in usage. Southern Indiana has seen a particularly bad crisis with crystal meth, and this can be observed in the data for Ohio County.

That said, it’s important to note that these trends are based solely on arrest and re-arrest records involving addictive substances. This does not include instances of substance abuse in which a person evaded arrest or committed no crimes. As a result, it’s not a complete picture of the types of substances being abused, but it does offer an overview of how substance types have shifted over the years in Rockville and the rest of Ohio County.

In any case, here is the latest data from Indiana’s Next Level Recovery program showing the arrests involving different kinds of addictive substances between 2016 and 2024 in Ohio County:

*Statistics for 2024 are still preliminary and do not account for the entire calendar year.

Based on the table above, it would seem that substance abuse is in decline in Ohio County. However, there are a myriad of reasons that the total arrest numbers declined from 41 in 2016 to just 22 in 2023 (and 11 in 2024, though this is still provisional data). Alcohol and drug abusers could be better at evading arrest, the local law enforcement may lack the resources to track down people selling, buying, and abusing substances, and the list goes on.

However, what is clear is that alcohol, marijuana, and meth remain the three most abused drugs in Ohio County, regardless of the total number of arrests. Comparatively, cocaine and prescription opioids are rarely abused. However, drug paraphernalia arrests are very common, and these are most often linked to meth or heroin abuse.