Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Aug 1:213:108089.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108089. Epub 2020 Jun 3.

Trends in characteristics of individuals who use methamphetamine in the United States, 2015-2018

Joseph J Palamar  1 , Benjamin H Han  2 , Katherine M Keyes  3
Affiliations

Trends in characteristics of individuals who use methamphetamine in the United States, 2015-2018

Joseph J Palamar et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. .

Abstract

Background: Prevalence of self-reported methamphetamine use has remained relatively stable over the past decade; however, deaths and seizures involving methamphetamine have been increasing. Research is needed to determine if select subgroups in the US are at increased risk for use.

Methods: We examined data from individuals ages ≥12 from the 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (n = 226,632), an annual nationally representative cross-sectional survey of non-institutionalized individuals in the US. Log-linear trends in past-year methamphetamine use were examined, stratified by demographic and drug use characteristics.

Results: Methamphetamine use increased in the US from 2015 to 2018, including among those reporting past-year use of ecstasy/MDMA (6.1 % to 10.8 % [p = .018], a 78.2 % increase), cocaine (8.4 % to 11.8 % [p = .013], a 40.1 % increase), and among those reporting past-year prescription opioid misuse (5.4 % to 8.0 % [p = .019], a 49.2 % increase). Increases were particularly pronounced among those reporting past-year use of heroin (22.5 % to 37.4 % [p = .032], a 66.2 % increase) and LSD (5.1 %-= to 10.3 % [p = .002], a 100.4 % increase). Small increases were also detected among heterosexuals (0.6 % to 0.7 % [p = .044], a 16.2 % increase), those with a high school diploma or less (1.0 % to 1.2 % [p = .020], a 22.0 % increase), and among those receiving government assistance (1.4 % to 1.8 % [p = .046], a 26.2 % increase).

Conclusions: Methamphetamine use is increasing among people who use other drugs with sharp increases among people who use heroin or LSD in particular, and this could have serious public health consequences. Results may signal that methamphetamine use may continue to increase in the general population.

Keywords: Cocaine; Heroin; LSD; Methamphetamine; Opioids.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest No conflict declared.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Trends in prevalence of past-year methamphetamine use in the general population in the United States and among those reporting past-year use of heroin or LSD, 2015–2018
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2019. Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables. (Accessed 11 March 2020) Rockville, MD. http://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2018-nsduh-detailed-tables.
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006. Methamphetamine use and HIV risk behaviors among heterosexual men--preliminary results from five northern California counties, December 2001-November 2003. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep 55, 273–277. - PubMed
    1. Courtney KE, Ray LA, 2014. Methamphetamine: an update on epidemiology, pharmacology, clinical phenomenology, and treatment literature. Drug Alcohol Depend. 143, 11–21. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Daskalopoulou M, Rodger A, Phillips AN, Sherr L, Speakman A, Collins S, … Lampe FC, 2014. Recreational drug use, polydrug use, and sexual behaviour in HIV-diagnosed men who have sex with men in the UK: results from the cross-sectional ASTRA study. Lancet HIV 1, e22–31. - PubMed
    1. Duncan DT, Zweig S, Hambrick HR, Palamar JJ, 2019. Sexual orientation disparities in prescription opioid misuse among U.S. adults. Am. J. Prev. Med 56, 17–26. - PMC - PubMed