Methamphetamine Abuse: Introduction

Methamphetamine (Meth) is a highly addictive central nervous system (CNS) stimulant. Methamphetamine has been classified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule II stimulant, which makes it legally available only through a nonrefillable prescription. Medically it may be indicated for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and as a short-term component of weight-loss treatments, but these uses are limited and it is rarely prescribed; also, the prescribed doses are far lower than those typically abused. Meth abuse imposes significant societal and economic cost.

• "Hospital emergency department visits related to the use of the illicit drug methamphetamine rose from 67,954 in 2007 to 102,961 in 2011 according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)."
• A study the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), over 12 million people (4.7 percent of the population) have tried methamphetamine at least once.
• From May to August 2016, 638 patients were found to be methamphetamine positive from a total of 3,102 toxicology screens among 32,156 ED visits at the University of California, Davis Medical Center (Richards 2017).
• Methamphetamine was the fourth most frequent illicit drug recorded on death certificates in 2016, after fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine as reported in the National Vital Statistics System - (NVSS 2018)

• the parent who needs to work two jobs to make ends meet
• athletes who need a "pick-me-up" before the game
• young girls & women who wants to lose ten pounds
• the kid who just wants to fit in.

Reference

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). Emergency Department Visits Involving Methamphetamine: 2007 to 2011 https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/emergency-department-visits-involving-methamphetamine-2007-2011.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Slides for the 2017 NSDUH Annual National Report | CBHSQ https://www.samhsa.gov/search_results?k=slide+2017+nsduh

Richards JR, Hamidi S, Grant CD, Wang CG, Tabish N, Turnipseed SD, and Derlet RW (2017). Methamphetamine Use and Emergency Department Utilization: 20 Years Later. Journal of Addiction Vol. 2017

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System. Drugs Most Frequently Involved in Drug Overdose Deaths: United States, 2011–2016. NVSS 2018 (67:9)

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