Methamphetamine Update
 Recent
data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicate a
significant increase in the estimated number of past-month methamphetamine
users who met criteria for illicit drug dependence or abuse in the
past 12 months.
The report, from SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies, is titled
Methamphetamine
Use, Abuse, and Dependence: 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Past-month methamphetamine users who met criteria for illicit
drug abuse or dependence increased from 164,000 (27.5 percent) in
2002 to 346,000 (59.3 percent) in 2004. However, the estimated number
of persons age 12 or older who used methamphetamine in the past
year in 2004 (1.4 million) and in the past month (600,000) remained
similar to numbers in 2002 and 2003.
Averages for 2002, 2003, and 2004 indicate that the rate of past-year
methamphetamine use was higher for young adults age 18 to 25 (1.6
percent) than for youth age 12 to 17 (0.7 percent), who, in turn,
had a higher rate than adults age 26 or older (0.4 percent).
Among all persons age 12 or older, the rate of past-year use was
higher among males (0.7 percent) than females (0.5 percent).
The data ranked 12 western states, including Nevada, Wyoming,
and Montana, among the top third of states highest in past-year
use of methamphetamine. Connecticut, New York, and North Carolina
were among the states with the lowest rates.
Dependence or abuse is defined using criteria specified in the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)
used by psychiatrists for their diagnoses. The annual survey of
close to 70,000 people asked about both illicit methamphetamine,
as well as prescription methamphetamine use (nonmedical).
The report is available on SAMHSA's Web site at www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k5/meth/meth.htm. 
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