February 2007
Question:
I’ve heard that methamphetamine is very addictive. Is there a treatment and is it true that it’s more of a problem in rural areas?
Answer:
Methamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant that is so addictive that it is designated a Schedule II stimulant, meaning that its potential for abuse is so high that it is only legally available through a prescription that can not be refilled.
Also referred to on the street as “speed,” “meth,” “crystal meth,” and “chalk,” methamphetamine can be smoked, snorted, injected, and taken orally. It is used medicinally in small doses for treatment of narcolepsy, attention deficit disorders, and obesity, but it’s highly addictive qualities often prevent doctors from prescribing it to patients. The 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported that an estimated 10.4 million Americans aged 12 or older had abused methamphetamine at least once in their lifetime.1
While marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among youth, methamphetamine use has been on the rise in recent years. According to the Phoenix House, a large drug treatment center, methamphetamine use accounted for almost half of the center’s adolescent admissions in 2005 and other treatment centers have also reported a similar rise in admissions for methamphetamine addiction.2 While the number of youth using methamphetamine may be less than those using marijuana, many argue that the United States’ “War on Drugs” should be focused not on marijuana, but on methamphetamine because of its powerfully addictive nature and the irreconcilable effects it has on a person’s health, particularly on the brain.
While it is true that methamphetamine use is escalating in rural areas, particularly in the West and Midwest, it is a trend that is rising across the country in rural, suburban and urban areas. Production and use of methamphetamine was originally focused in California and the Pacific Northwest where the market was dominated by motorcycle gangs, but it is quickly spreading to the Midwest and East Coast. To this day California still has the highest rate of use and production of methamphetamine in the country. Californians currently make up 40% of all methamphetamine treatment admissions nationwide.3
Source: El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), U.S. DEA
The prevalence in the Midwest is largely due to an increase of gangs importing methamphetamine into the area as well as a large number of individual dealers and users building illegal labs. In the mid 1990s a recipe for methamphetamine appeared on the internet reveling that one of the ingredients is anhydrous ammonia, a fertilizer used by farmers. The publication of this information led to a jump in home production, particularly in farming communities where anhydrous ammonia is easily accessible. Rural areas are also prime locations for “super labs,” which can produce ten times the amount of methamphetamine than the smaller labs typical in urban areas, because they have extensive land for dumping toxins and are more isolated. Home production is an extremely dangerous process: one-third of the 32 ingredients used to make methamphetamine are toxic and many of them are also reactive, explosive, flammable, and corrosive. The number of seizures of illegal methamphetamine labs in the Midwest increased from 44 in 1995 to more than 500 in 1997 and Missouri had the highest number of lab seizures in the country in 1997.4 Nearly one-fifth of the 1,654 labs found across the country in 1998 were found because of fires or explosions in the labs.5
Source: State of California Office of Attorney General
There are no medications for treatment of methamphetamine addiction, and abusers need intensive outpatient or residential drug treatment programs. Several cognitive behavioral interventions have been found to effectively help modify a patient's thinking and behaviors, and to increase skills in coping with various life stresses which can help with treatment. Although there are several differences between the two drugs, researchers have found that treatments that have been successful for cocaine have also been successful for methamphetamine users.
The Methamphetamine Treatment Center of Excellence of Pima County, Arizona, operated by Compass Health Care and La Frontera Center, has been praised by the Office of National Drug Control Policy office for its unique nature. The program combines individual and group therapy, drug testing, and motivational counseling that focuses on building the personal strengths of the patient. Other services provided include providing housing, employment and other needs. The individual won’t be kicked out of the program if they are found to be using drugs again. Instead, they work on steps they can take to stay off of methamphetamine with a recovery specialist who is in recovery. The program uses incentives, ranging from candy to a new TV or radio, to reward clients for staying with the program. The treatment center, modeled after the Matrix program developed in California, is still quite new, but has been very successful.
The Matrix Model is used for both adults and adolescents in treatment for alcohol and drugs and centers its philosophy on the basis that each client has individual needs and backgrounds. Treatment includes factoring these needs into each step of the program. The Matrix model incorporates treatment elements, including cognitive behavioral therapies (such as relapse prevention techniques), a positive reinforcement treatment context, many components of motivational interviewing, family involvement, accurate psychoeducational information,12-step facilitation efforts, and regular drug testing. Studies have shown that clients receiving treatment through the Matrix approach received more services, stayed in treatment longer, and returned more negative drug tests for methamphetamine than did those in the control group who received “treatment as usual.”6 The program has a total of 16 weeks of structured programming and 36 weeks of continuing care.
Signs to watch for to tell if your family member or friend is using methamphetamine:
- Inability to sleep
- Increased sensitivity to noise
- Nervous physical activity, like scratching
- Irritability, dizziness or confusion
- Extreme anorexia
- Tremors or even convulsions
- Presence of paraphernalia used for inhaling, such as razor blades, mirrors and straws
- Presence of injecting paraphernalia, such as syringes, heated spoons or surgical tubing
If you or someone you know is looking for treatment, you can find a treatment center or a physician using SAMHSA’s substance-abuse treatment facility locator:
http://www.samhsa.gov/treatment/treatment_public_i.aspx
OR:
call SAMHSA’s help line at 800-662-HELP.
Resources:
Drug Facts. Office of National Drug Control Policy. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/methamphetamine/index.html
Jefferson, David J. (8-8-2005). The Meth Epidemic: Inside America's New Drug Crisis. Newsweek.
KCI. Methamphetamine Frequently Asked Questions. http://www.kci.org/meth_info/faq_meth.htm
Kornman, Sheryl. Tucson meth treatment 'unique': White House officials set to praise center for care of addicts.” Tuscon Citizen http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/14260.php
(8-12-2004) Meth a Growing Menace in Rural America: Production and Use of Highly Addictive Drug Has Exploded. Naitonal Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3805074
Methamphetamine: UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. Special Populations – Adolescents . http://www.methamphetamine.org/html/special-pops-adolescents.html
National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA Facts: Methamphetamine. http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/methamphetamine.html
SAMHSA. Tips for Teens: The Truth About Methamphetamine http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/PHD861/
Snell, Marilyn Berlin “Welcome to Meth Country.” Sierra Magazine Online http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200101/meth.asp
State of California Office of the Attorney General Clan Lab Programs: Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Program (CLEP) http://ag.ca.gov/bne/clanlab.php?PHPSESSID=a30bf774f01fda3135ff424bbe15f277
UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs “Treatment” http://www.methamphetamine.org/html/treatment.html
Footnotes:
1 Drug Facts. Office of National Drug Control Policy. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/methamphetamine/index.html
2 Special Populations – Adolescents. Methamphetamine: UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. http://www.methamphetamine.org/html/special-pops-adolescents.html
3 Methamphetamine Awareness. California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.
http://www.adp.ca.gov/Meth/meth.shtml
4 Methamphetamine Frequently Asked Questions. KCI. http://www.kci.org/meth_info/faq_meth.htm
5 Snell, Marilyn Berlin “Welcome to Meth Country.” Sierra Magazine Online http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200101/meth.asp
6 UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs “Treatment” http://www.methamphetamine.org/html/treatment.html