Meth Reports and Statistics
Florida Office of Drug Control Information Brief
Methamphetamine Fact Sheet, revised June, 2007 [Adobe PDF]
Joel Kaufman, Ph.D.
United Way of Broward County Commission on Substance Abuse
Preventing Methamphetamine: The Community Process [Adobe PDF]
A presentation with objectives to:
- Inform and educate the professional community regarding the use/abuse and manufacture of Methamphetamine.
- Increase knowledge and awareness regarding the interrelationship between the use/abuse of Meth and the increase in STDs and AIDS.
Monitoring the Future Study (MTF)*
MTF assesses the extent of drug use among adolescents (8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders) and young adults across the country. Recent data from the survey indicate the following:
- In 2004, 6.2 percent of high school seniors had reported lifetime** use of methamphetamine, statistically unchanged from 2003. Lifetime use was measured at 5.3 percent of 10th grade students.
- Eighth-graders reported significant decreases in lifetime, annual, and 30-day use.
Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG)**
Results reported at the most recent CEWG meetings indicate that methamphetamine abuse and production continue at high levels in Hawaii, west coast areas, and some southwestern areas of the United States—but methamphetamine abuse also is continuing to spread eastward.
The percentage of adult male arrestees testing methamphetamine-positive in 2003 were highest in Honolulu (40.3 percent), Phoenix (38.3) San Diego (36.2), and Los Angeles (28.7).
Several other items of significance were reported, as follows:
- The numbers of clandestine methamphetamine laboratory incidents reported to the National Clandestine Laboratory Database decreased from 1999 to 2004. During this same period, methamphetamine lab incidents increased in midwestern States (Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio), and in Pennsylvania. In 2004, more lab incidents were reported in Illinois (926) than in California (673). In 2003, methamphetamine lab incidents reached new highs in Georgia (250), Minnesota (309), and Texas (677). There were only seven methamphetamine lab incidents reported in Hawaii in 2004.
- In the first 6 months of 2004, nearly 59 percent of substance abuse treatment admissions (excluding alcohol) in Hawaii were for primary methamphetamine abuse. San Diego followed, with nearly 51 percent. Notable increases in methamphetamine treatment admissions occurred in Atlanta (10.6 percent in the first 6 months of 2004, as compared with 2.5 percent in 2001) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (18.7 percent in the first 6 months of 2004, as compared with 10.6 percent in 2001).
- Some MDMA (ecstasy) and cocaine users are switching to methamphetamine, ignorant of its severe toxicity.
- In many gay clubs found throughout New York City and elsewhere, methamphetamine is often used in an injectable form, placing users and their partners at risk for transmission of HIV, hepatitis C, and other STDs.
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)****
According to the 2003 NSDUH, 12.3 million Americans age 12 and older had tried methamphetamine at least once in their lifetimes (5.2 percent of the population), with the majority of past-year users between 18 and 34 years of age. Significant decreases in past year use were seen among 12- to 17-year-olds.
* These data are from the 2003 Monitoring the Future Survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, DHHS, and conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. The survey has tracked 12th-graders' illicit drug use and related attitudes since 1975; in 1991, 8th- and 10th-graders were added to the study. The latest data are online at www.drugabuse.gov.
** "Lifetime" refers to use at least once during a respondent's lifetime. "Annual" refers to use at least once during the year preceding an individual's response to the survey. "30-day" refers to use at least once during the 30 days preceding an individual's response to the survey.
*** CEWG is a NIDA-sponsored network of researchers from 21 major U.S. metropolitan areas and selected foreign countries who meet semiannually to discuss the latest epidemiology of drug abuse. CEWG's most recent reports are available at http://www.drugabuse.gov/about/organization/cewg/pubs.html.
**** NSDUH (formerly known as the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse) is an annual survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Findings from the latest survey are available at www.samhsa.gov.
Revised 5/05
