Methamphetamine Abuse Rises
According to a new SAMHSA report, admissions to treatment
for methamphetamine abuse increased significantly between
1993 and 2003, moving across the country from West to
East.
States in the Midwest and South that had few admissions
due to methamphetamine/ amphetamine abuse in 1993 are
now experiencing higher rates of admissions.
These findings are part of a report released by SAMHSA
from continued analysis of the 2003 Treatment Episode
Data Set (TEDS).
 The
report, Trends in Methamphetamine/
Amphetamine Admissions to Treatment: 1993-2003,
combines the two substances of abuse because 3 of the
52 states and jurisdictions in TEDS do not distinguish
between the powerful amphetamine, methamphetamine, and
all other amphetamines. However, for the majority of
states that do distinguish between the substances, 86
percent of primary methamphetamine/
amphetamine admissions
in 2003 were for methamphetamine.
Methamphetamine/amphetamine admissions increased nationally
from 1993 to 2003, from 13 to 56 admissions per 100,000
population ages 12 and older. A total of 18 states experienced
methamphetamine/amphetamine treatment rates higher than
the national average in 2003.
The climb in admissions to treatment for methamphetamine/
amphetamine as the primary substance of abuse rose from
28,000 admissions in 1993 (nearly 2 percent of 1.6 million
admissions nationally) to almost 136,000 admissions in
2003 (over 7 percent of the total 1.8 million admissions).
TEDS collects data on the approximately 1.8 million
annual admissions to substance abuse treatment facilities,
primarily those that receive some public funding. The
new report is available on the SAMHSA Web site at www.oas.samhsa.gov/
2K6/methTx/methTx.cfm. 
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