Methamphetamine Addiction Trends In 1996

Methamphetamine addiction continues to increase in the West.

This is where the problem has been historically centered. Recent Alcohol and Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) data show increases in all the western Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG) cities. San Diego mortality figures also show increases, as do methamphetamine addiction treatment figures in Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Methamphetamine is the most common primary drug among treatment admissions in San Diego and Hawaii, and it equals heroin as the number-one drug in Arizona. By contrast, emergency department (ED) rates declined significantly by 30-40 percent throughout the West. They also declined in Philadelphia, but the numbers are much lower there. The only city with a significant increase in methamphetamine addiction trends was Minneapolis/St. Paul, but, again, the numbers are sharply lower than in the West.

Smoking has recently overtaken inhalation as the primary route of methamphetamine administration in San Diego and Los Angeles. "Ice" smoking also predominates in Hawaii, and it is increasing in Denver and San Francisco. Injecting, however, still predominates in Denver, San Francisco, and Texas. In San Francisco, methamphetamine addiction / abuse remains widespread among the gay and club scenes. Denver drug dealers sometimes cut crack or heroin with methamphetamine. Elsewhere in the country, methamphetamine addiction trends appear to increase in Minneapolis/St. Paul and in the rural areas surrounding St. Louis; availability is reported in Atlanta and New Orleans; and it is associated with the club or rave scenes in Boston, Baltimore, Miami, and New York City.

Information relased by the National Institute on Drug Abuse 1996

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