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Tag: meth overdoses

  • Meth Causes Most Overdoses In Western US, But Little Help Is Available

    Meth Causes Most Overdoses In Western US, But Little Help Is Available

    Meth is the deadliest drug in four out of five regions west of the Mississippi.

    Fentanyl and synthetic opioids are killing more people than any other drug nationally, but in the Western United States, methamphetamine is the most common drug in fatal overdoses, and there’s little public health professionals have been able to do to stop it.

    That’s according to data released Friday by the CDC, reported by The Salt Lake Tribune. Overdose data from 2017 showed that meth is the fourth deadliest drug nationally (after fentanyl, heroin and cocaine), but in all four out of five regions west of the Mississippi, it is the deadliest drug.

    There’s Not Enough Recovery Resources For Meth Addiction

    That’s concerning, because most addiction and recovery resources are aimed at fighting opioid addiction, said Dr. Michael Landen, with New Mexico’s health department. 

    He said, “I think we’re potentially going to be caught off guard with methamphetamine deaths, and we have to get our act together.”

    Addiction specialist and researcher Dr. Josh Bamberger told The San Francisco Chronicle that unlike treatment for opioid use disorder, there is no effective medication-assisted treatment for meth, or drugs that can reverse a meth overdose.

    “It’s a super frustrating place for a physician to be in,” he said. “The take-home lesson is that we have no effective medical treatment for amphetamine addiction. We’ve tried so many medications—antipsychotics, antidepressants, Adderall and more, but none of them has a long-term impact on the addiction. It is very hard to treat.”

    Meth Is Devastating San Francisco’s Homeless Population

    In San Francisco, where meth use is an epidemic among the homeless, researchers and public health officials have even tried paying people to stay clean, increasing the amount each week. 

    “It’s not great, but it seems to be the best way right now,” Bamberger said. 

    Part of the challenge in treating meth addiction is that people who have been using meth experience brain changes that can last long after the drug has left their system.

    Bamberger explained, “Some people continue to exhibit psychotic behavior for days, or even months. And that can involve not just paranoid delusions, but also formication (named after the formic acid ants exude), where you feel you have ants or worms under your skin. It’s awful.”

    Those symptoms can last long-term, he said.

    “It can ‘concretize’ existing mental conditions,” he explained. “In my 30 years of practice in San Francisco, there is no question that my least favorite drug is methamphetamine.”

    Many people addicted to meth, like “Roche,” a woman in her twenties, said they feel the hopelessness of their situation. 

    “Kick meth? Are you kidding?” she said. “When it’s got you, it’s got you. I have about 10 friends who are dead from smoking this—and not just from fentanyl being in it—and someday that will probably be me.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • SAMHSA Under Fire For "Meth Monster" PSA

    SAMHSA Under Fire For "Meth Monster" PSA

    While spreading awareness is key, people in the health industry say that the video’s approach is all wrong.

    With methamphetamine addiction and overdose on the rise, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is trying to raise awareness about the risks of meth use, but is coming under fire for a new PSA the agency released this week. 

    Stereotypes & Stigma

    As reported by Filter magazine, in the PSA, a man is shown in a boxing ring battling a hideous “meth monster.” In the first round, the man is knocked down, but springs back up. Next, the monster uses pliers to pull out his teeth, a reference to the “meth mouth” stereotype.

    “There goes the teeth,” a sports commentator narrating the video says. “That’s gotta hurt.”

    In the third round, the man is captured by the monster. “He doesn’t seem to be able to get away. He’s trapped. Meth is stealing his soul,” the commentator exclaims. 

    The commercial ends by urging people to get more information or seek help by visiting samhsa.gov/meth or calling 1-800-662-HELP (4357). While awareness is key, people in the health industry say that the approach in the video is all wrong.

    Dr. Sarah Wakeman, an addiction medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, took to Twitter to express her concern. 

    “Is this a joke?” she wrote. “This makes the old fried egg commercials look mild. ‘Meth will steal your soul’- really @samhsagov ?? How about some fact based, non stigmatizing public health approaches instead of this…”

    Bill Kinkle, co-host of the Health Professionals in Recovery podcast, wrote on Twitter that PSAs show the policy mistakes that can prevent people from getting help. 

    “Everything you need to know about how War on Drugs propaganda operates is in this video. Personifying a drug as an evil monster, filling you with intense fear, portraying drug use always as a boxing match, tons of misinformation and lies, then finishing with ‘get the facts,’” he wrote. He followed up with a simple tweet: “Not helpful.”

    SAMHSA’s web page dedicated to meth information does relay helpful and concerning facts. For example, the agency reports that meth use among adults 26 and older increased 43% between 2017 and 2018. 

    Still, Samatha Arsenault of the advocacy group Shatterproof said PSAs like this one waste resources that could be better spent on getting people with meth addiction real help.  

    “I was appalled by this video,” she wrote. “Sad to see that after knowing for so long that scare tactics not only don’t work but are damaging to ppl impacted by SUD that resources were used to put this together.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Meth Seizures, Overdoses Skyrocket

    Meth Seizures, Overdoses Skyrocket

    “Meth just presents a whole new issue for us, and our officers are getting hurt. We’ve had concussions. We’ve had broken hands,” said one police chief.

    Seizures of methamphetamine rose 142% between 2017 and 2018, according to federal data obtained by NPR. During the same time, overdoses involving a stimulant increased 21%. 

    “We’re seeing almost as many people starting up methamphetamines and cocaine and prescription stimulants as are abusing the opioids,” said John Eadie, public health coordinator for the National Emerging Threats Initiative, which falls under the government’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program. “So the problem is getting worse at the moment, and it’s getting more complicated to deal with.”

    Officers’ Safety

    Concord, New Hampshire, Chief of Police Bradley Osgood said that the rise in meth is making policing more risky for his officers. 

    “Methamphetamine just presents a whole new issue for us, and our officers are getting hurt. We’ve had concussions. We’ve had broken hands,” he said. 

    While Concord has had one of the highest opioid overdose rates in the country, Osgood has seen a sudden and steep uptick in meth on the streets, he said. 

    “It’s surpassed what we’re seeing from heroin and fentanyl. The rise in meth has just been unbelievable.”

    Dr. Melisa Lai-Becker, who runs an Emergency Room outside of Boston, said that she now sees about four admissions for meth overdoses each week. In previous years, meth overdoses were virtually unheard of, she said. 

    In addition to methamphetamine, other stimulants, like ADHD medications, are being abused more often, said Mbabazi Kariisa, a health scientist at the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

    “We know that the relationship between stimulants and cocaine is a growing problem, and it requires an increase in public health and data collection efforts so that we can implement effective and comprehensive drug overdose prevention,” Kariisa said. 

    Meth isn’t as likely to cause a fatal overdose as opioids. However, meth users experience symptoms that mimic psychosis, which can lead to risky behavior. Osgood said that he has had officers follow a meth user leaping through traffic. In other cases, all officers on duty have had to be called to contain a person on meth. 

    No Narcan For Meth

    One of the most concerning aspects of meth use is that there is no medication that can reverse the effects of meth, as Narcan can do for opioids. Benzodiazepines can be used as sedatives for meth users in emergencies, but getting the right dose is difficult, said Lai-Becker.

    “You’re looking at the speedometer, and you’re trying to get them down from going 148 miles per hour down to 60 miles per hour,” she said. “You want to get them to right around the speed limit, but you don’t want to bring them all the way to a full stop.”

    Jon DeLena, special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, said that Mexican Cartels are pushing meth into the country because drug users are becoming more wary of using opioids that could be laced with deadly fentanyl.

    He said that he recently toured a Mexican meth lab that was producing more than 14 tons of meth a week. 

    “It was enormous. It was incredible,” he said. “Those are the drugs that are coming into the United States and ultimately up into our region.”

    View the original article at thefix.com