Amphetamine Treatment Admissions Increase

Highlights:

In 1993, amphetamine treatment admission rates were high in a few Western States-California, Oregon, and Nevada.

By 1999, high amphetamine treatment admission rates were seen in most States west of the Mississippi.

Amphetamines (central nervous system stimulants) made up less than 5 percent of the 1.6 million admissions to publicly funded substance abuse treatment facilities in 1999. However, this relatively small number represented an increase from almost 2 percent in 1993.

Amphetamines can be smoked, injected, or inhaled. Methamphetamine is the primary form of amphetamine seen in the United States. It made up 94 percent of all amphetamine treatment admissions reported to the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) in 1999. Methamphetamine (known as speed, crank, ice, glass, or crystal meth) is produced in small clandestine laboratories or imported in larger quantities from Mexico.

For this report, TEDS data were used to calculate amphetamine treatment admission rates per 100,000 persons aged 12 or older for each State. In 1993, amphetamine treatment admission rates were high in a few Western States-California, Oregon, and Nevada. By 1999, high amphetamine treatment admission rates were seen in most States west of the Mississippi.

Amphetamine Treatment Admission Rates
In 1993, the treatment admission rate for primary amphetamine abuse in the United States was 14 admissions per 100,000 aged 12 or older. No State had a rate higher than 100 per 100,000. Three States had rates of 55 per 100,000 or more, and 89 percent of reporting States had rates of fewer than 28 per 100,000.

By 1996, the treatment admission rate for primary amphetamine abuse in the United States had increased by 79 percent, to 24 per 100,000 aged 12 or older. Ten States had rates of at least 55 per 100,000, and three of these had rates of at least 100 per 100,000. The proportion of States with rates fewer than 28 per 100,000 had fallen to 66 percent.

By 1999, the treatment admission rate for primary amphetamine abuse in the United States as a whole had increased to 32 per 100,000 aged 12 or older. Thirteen States had rates of at least 55 per 100,000, and eight of these had rates of 100 per 100,000 or more.

Amphetamine treatment admission rates increased between 1993 and 1999 by 250 percent or more in 14 States and by 100 to 249 percent in another 10 States.

The largest rate increases were reported in States that had relatively low 1993 rates of fewer than 28 per 100,000 (Table 1). Despite large percentage increases, the 1999 rates remained low in some of these States (e.g., Tennessee, Indiana, and Alabama). In others, however, large percentage increases signified high rates (e.g., Utah and Idaho).

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"In the United States, approximately three-fourths of all deaths among persons aged 10--24 years result from only four causes: motor-vehicle crashes, other unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide. Results from the 1999 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey demonstrate that numerous high school students engage in behaviors that increase their likelihood of death from these four causes...[including alcohol and illicit drug use]" Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Centers for Disease Control, Risk Youth Behavior Surveillance.