--- description: It's also been ranked as the unhappiest state title: See Which State Has the Highest Daily Use of Mood-Altering Drugs image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [medicine](/tag/medicine/) ## medicine Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See Which State Has the Highest Daily Use of Mood-Altering Drugs by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2015 6:08 PM CUT by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 1, 2015 6:08 PM CUT Nearly one in five Americans admits to taking some sort of drug every day to help relax—most of them in states that rate low on the income and happiness scales, according to a [new survey.](http://www.gallup.com/poll/182192/mood-altering-drug-highest-west-virginia-lowest-alaska.aspx "undefined") West Virginians are by far the most likely to take a prescription or over-the-counter drug to chill out, with 28 percent of those polled saying they do. Alaska appears to be the most naturally laid-back state, with just 13.5 percent saying they use drugs to calm down. The rates are probably even higher than that, says Dan Witters, research director of the… [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/health/mental-health/drugged-down-nearly-19-percent-us-take-drugs-daily-n333951?cid=par-time-article%5F20141002 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3767539/mood-altering-drugs-study/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3767539/mood-altering-drugs-study/"},"headline":"See Which State Has the Highest Daily Use of Mood-Altering Drugs","datePublished":"2015-04-01T18:08:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:37:25.111Z","description":"It's also been ranked as the unhappiest state","url":"https://time.com/3767539/mood-altering-drugs-study/","keywords":["medicine","Drugs","Relaxation","mood"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3767539/mood-altering-drugs-study/","name":"See Which State Has the Highest Daily Use of Mood-Altering Drugs"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How $1,000 Could Help Your Health","description":"From acupuncture to yoga, $1,000 can go a long way to improving your health.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EILRa37f/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-22T16:19:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EILRa37f.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3767539/mood-altering-drugs-study/","duration":"PT2M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3767539/mood-altering-drugs-study/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```