"Facing the Methamphetamine Problem in America"
July 18, 2003

Scope of the National Methamphetamine Threat

According to the 2001 NHSDA, just over 28 million United States residents (about 12.6% of the population) used an illicit drug sometime within the past year. Of these, approximately 1.3 million reported using methamphetamine during the year, and about 9.6 million U.S. residents over the age of 12 had used methamphetamine at least once in their lifetime.

Percentage reporting methamphetamine use (2001 Nat’l Household Survey on Drug Abuse)

Age	Lifetime	Annual	Past 30 Days
12–17	1.4%	0.8%	0.2%
18–25	5.1	1.7	0.7
26–34	4.4	0.7	0.4
35+	4.5	0.3	0.1
12+ (Total)	4.3	0.6	0.3

Meth mentions (emergency departments) Year All drug mentions Meth mentions 1994 - 17,537 1995 - 15,933 1996 - 11,002 1997 - 17,154 1998 549,060 11,486 1999 575,718 10,447 2000 624,390 13,505 2001 669,559 14,923 1st ½, 2002 313,181 6,136

The West-East phenomenon: LEAs reporting meth as #1 threat Region % Pacific 83.6 West Central 73.9 Southwest 52.9 Southeast 22.9 Great Lakes 20.5 Florida/Caribbean 7.0 Mid-Atlantic 3.8 New York/New Jersey 0.8 New England 0.0

According to the 2001 DAWN survey, nearly 15,000 methamphetamine-related emergency room admissions were reported—the highest level since 1997.

One of the most interesting aspects of the methamphetamine threat is its lack of national uniformity. Simply put, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, in some areas of this country, methamphetamine use and production is not classified as a significant problem. In some regions, it is a significant threat. The majority of reporting law enforcement agencies in the Pacific, West Central, and Southwest regions identify methamphetamine as their greatest drug threat. By contrast, very few law enforcement agencies in the Florida/Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic, New York/New Jersey and New England regions have identified methamphetamine as a primary threat. While there is also some level of disparity nationwide with respect to the marijuana, cocaine, and heroin threat, the difference is not as stark as with methamphetamine.

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