This Month in Psychopharmacology

Increased Treatment Admissions Involving Methamphetamine Use

Use and abuse of methamphetamines (meth) can have horrible physical and psychiatric consequences; unfortunately, data indicate that meth use/abuse is on the rise. In this study, conducted using data from a national database involving 15,747,334 drug-related treatment admissions, the authors investigated trends in terms of who, where, and how increased meth use/abuse is taking place. The percentage of admissions to drug treatment facilities involving use of meth increased incredibly over the past decade; from 15.1% of drug-related admissions in 2008 to 23.6% of drug-related admissions in 2017. Further exploration of the data revealed that meth-related admissions had increased among both males and females, across all age groups, in all races/ethnicities, and in all regions of the United States (Table). Perhaps most alarming, it seems that injecting meth (as opposed to e.g., smoking, snorting) has increased at an astronomical rate, as has the concomitant use of heroin and prescription opioids -meth is often co-injected with heroin. These data indicate not only an increased meth epidemic, but also the infiltration of the opioid epidemic into other areas of substance use disorders. Although there is currently no medication assisted therapy available for meth use, the findings presented in this study may help to identify patients at need for interventions for meth use/abuse with or without co-occurring opioid use/misuse.


Reference:

Jones CM et al. Am J Public Health 2020;110(4):509-16. Abstract


For more information:

NEI Podcast w/ Dr. William Sauve
(CME) Stimulating Side Effects: What to Do When Your Patient is Using Methamphetamine

Addiction/Reward
Cases of Comorbid Substance Use (NEI Members only)
CME credit: 0.75
Join Us Live at NEI Max!
November 5 - 8, 2020 | Colorado Springs, CO