Overdose deaths involving methamphetamine nearly tripled from 2015 to 2019 among people ages 18-64 in the United States, according to a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The number of people who reported using methamphetamine during this time did not increase as steeply, but the analysis found that populations with methamphetamine use disorder have become more diverse. Published today in JAMA Psychiatry, the study suggests that increases in higher-risk patterns of methamphetamine use, such as increases in methamphetamine use disorder, frequent use, and use of other drugs at the same time, may be contributing to the rise in overdose deaths.
“We are in the midst of an overdose crisis in the United States, and this tragic trajectory goes far beyond an opioid epidemic. In addition to heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine are becoming more dangerous due to contamination with highly potent fentanyl, and increases in higher risk use patterns such as multiple substance use and regular use,” said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D., one of the authors of the study. “Public health approaches must be tailored to address methamphetamine use across the diverse communities at risk, and particularly for American Indian and Alaska Native communities, who have the highest risk for methamphetamine misuse and are too often underserved.”
The researchers also noted shifts in the populations using methamphetamine between 2015 and 2019. Whereas, historically, methamphetamine has been most commonly used by middle-aged white persons, this analysis found that American Indians/Alaska Natives had the highest prevalence of methamphetamine use, as well as methamphetamine use disorder and methamphetamine injection. Previous studies have found that American Indians/Alaska Natives also had the greatest increases in methamphetamine overdose deaths in recent years.
This analysis also found that prevalence of methamphetamine use disorder among those who did not inject the drug increased 10-fold among Black people from 2015 to 2019, a much steeper increase than among white or Hispanic people. Like frequency of use, methamphetamine use disorder is a measure used to capture escalating methamphetamine use. Methamphetamine use disorder without injection quadrupled in young adults ages 18 to 23, a substantially greater increase than in older age groups. This is of particular concern, as young adulthood is a critical period of continued brain, social, and academic maturation, and having methamphetamine use disorder during this vulnerable period could have long-lasting consequences.
Methamphetamine use has also been linked to HIV transmission, as infectious diseases can spread by sharing injection equipment and through heightened unprotected sexual activity that is often associated with methamphetamine use. Previous studies have reported high rates of methamphetamine use among men who have sex with men, who also face higher rates of HIV transmission. This study found that the prevalence of methamphetamine injection was the highest among homosexual men. Moreover, methamphetamine use disorder without injection more than doubled among homosexual or bisexual men. It also more than tripled among heterosexual women and lesbian or bisexual women, and more than doubled among heterosexual men, further emphasizing the expansion of use across different groups.
“What makes these data even more devastating is that currently, there are no approved medications to treat methamphetamine use disorder,” said Emily Einstein, Ph.D., chief of NIDA’s Science Policy Branch and a co-author of the study. “NIDA is working to develop new treatment approaches, including safe and effective medications urgently needed to slow the increase in methamphetamine use, overdoses, and related deaths.”
Why is "Black" capitalized and "white" isn't?
Everyone knows the stereotypical methhead. We've all seen them in Walmart. Or walking down the road animatedly talking to themselves. They're like homosexuals, you can spot them instantly. Meth is their primary identity (hence the terms "methhead," and "tweaker"). But they're also White. That doesn't mean there aren't non-White methheads, but close your eyes and visualize a methhead and it will be an emaciated White person with rotten teeth and sores all over their face (is that racial profiling?).
Apparently, now that science has concluded methheads have become a diverse group (remember, diversity is our strength), and it's not just ravaging White communities anymore, it's cause for concern. Since blacks, indians and homosexuals are now methheads, too, being a methhead has officially been reclassified as a medical disorder.
And the most "devastating" part, is unlike heroin (methadone) and opiates (suboxone), science hasn't created any alternative narcotics for the methhead to be addicted to. So the local street dealer (actually the Mexican drug cartels) profit and not Big Pharma.
Scientists are to science what journalists are to the Washington Post. It's all agenda driven drivel that's foundationally anti-white.
Science is bullshit!
Prediction time: In the near future Big Pharma will have a "cure" for "methamphetamine use disorder." It'll be what methadone/suboxone is to heroin/opiates.
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