Use Rates
An estimated 46 percent of Americans have tried illicit drugs in their lifetimes, and only 5 percent (13 million people) have tried meth. A 2007 study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed that the drug is often associated with risky behaviors, increasingly among women, and that meth use is highest among whites and Native Americans living in the West or South, who also use marijuana, cocaine, and intravenous drugs.
However, meth use is down. Across all age categories, the latest national drug prevalence data indicate a slight decrease in methamphetamine use. The latest data available from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) show a statistically significant decrease in rates of past year use for methamphetamine from 2006 (0.8%) to 2007 (0.5%) for individuals aged 12 or older. Even with the modest declines in use rates, 18-25 year-olds continue to demonstrate the highest use rate of any age group (two to three times higher than any other age group); this is consistent with other NSDUH data, which shows that the average age of first use of methamphetamine is typically in the late teens or early 20s.
In terms of regional differences, meth use rates vary considerably across the country. Originally confined to the West Coast and certain rural Western areas of the United States, meth abuse and trafficking have been spreading eastward over the past decade. The most recent state-level prevalence data from NSDUH (2004-2007 data) illustrates the trend:
According to the most recently available Treatment Episode Data Set (2007) – data gathered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) to measure the number and characteristics of admissions to substance abuse treatment programs across the country – primary admissions for methamphetamine have more than doubled in the past 10 years. This suggests that meth users are steadily entering treatment for their addiction – an addiction once thought to be untreatable.
Sources:
- NIDA InfoFacts: Methamphetamine
- NIDA Research Report Series - Methamphetamine Abuse and Addiction
- White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Street Terms
- South Dakota Meth Awareness Project
- Methamphetamine Use by State and Age Group based on NSDUH 2004-2007 (pdf)
- SAMHSA 2007 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS)
