Methamphetamine Abuse Is Causing More Visits to Emergency Rooms

It is no mystery that meth abuse is on the rise, especially amongst young adult populations and demographics. Young people show increasing interest in this drug, and that is something to be concerned about. While meth has been around since the 1940s, it did not really take off in the U.S. until the 1990s. The drug fell out of popularity for a short while during the early to mid-2000s, but now it is back with a vengeance. This time, it is the young adult to middle-aged demographic that is most affected, with meth usage rates skyrocketing higher than ever before in recorded history.

Historically speaking, methamphetamine was not known for being a drug that sent a lot of people to the hospital. Methamphetamine is not like opioids, where an addict can accidentally take a slightly larger dose than normal and go into a life-threatening overdose. Methamphetamine is not like alcohol, where one drink too many could be the difference between a bad hangover or full-on alcohol poisoning. No, while methamphetamine does have its negative side effects, sending people to the hospital has not historically speaking, been one of them.

Until recently.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, visits to U.S. hospitals for methamphetamine-related issues jumped from sixty-eight thousand visits in 2007 to one-hundred and three-thousand visits in 2011. 2011 is the most recent year where data is available on meth-related visits to hospitals. The rate of meth visits to hospitals almost doubled in just four year’s time, so what changed?

Big Meth Problems on an Even Bigger Scale

This report causes alarm indeed because meth-related visits to hospitals had actually been falling from 2005 to 2007. Hopes were high that people were losing interest in this drug, and that maybe young people were finally understanding the risk factors present in abusing meth.

This no longer seems to be the case. In fact, after 2007, meth use began to grow and continues to grow to this day. 2011 saw record highest-ever hospital admissions for meth use, but that number has likely been surpassed in recent years. According to SAMSHA, the greatest uptick in meth use-related ER visits has been amongst people of the age of twenty-five to thirty-four.

The only explanation for such a sudden increase in meth-related visits is that young people are using more meth, the meth they are using is more potent, and they are using it more often. To top it all off, they are likely making bad decisions and taking risks while they are high on meth. This gruesome melting pot makes for a very dangerous scenario for those who get involved with meth.

Searching for a Resolution to Young Adult Meth Use

According to Dr. H. Westley Clark, who is the director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment:

“The report shows that methamphetamine use may be on the rise again, and we must do everything we can to address this serious public health problem…”

“The report shows that methamphetamine use may be on the rise again, and we must do everything we can to address this serious public health problem. One important step is to use the hospital emergency department visit as a critical opportunity to talk to and intervene with, people using this drug so that they can more fully understand its dangers and where they can turn to for help.”

Dr. Clark has the right idea, and we can expand on that to envelop all categories and aspects of life. We shouldn’t restrict discussions and interventions regarding meth use to the hospital beds. We need to have these interventions in our homes, in schools, at places of work, etc. We need to reduce the number of people who are abusing meth before the problem gets totally out of control.

Sources:

• https://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2014/06/19/sharp-rise-in-meth-linked-er-visits-in-us-study-shows
• https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/methamphetamine
• https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/drug-related-hospital-emergency-room-visits
• https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/DAWN_SR167_EDVisitsMeth_06-12-14/DAWN-SR167-EDVisitsMeth-2014.htm