Amphetamine Abuse Resurges Amid Severe Shortage of Addiction Treatment Resources in the U.S.

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat official account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that a recent study published in JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association) showed that the number of hospitalizations related to amphetamines in the United States surged by approximately 245% between 2008 and 2015. In comparison, this figure dwarfed the hospitalization rates for other types of drug abuse, with opioid-related cases increasing by about 46%. The most significant growth was observed in the western states.

In the United States, hospitalizations due to amphetamine use have surged, yet this resurgence has been largely overshadowed by the nation’s intense focus on opioids.

“The surge in hospitalizations and deaths caused by amphetamines is ‘completely off the radar,’” said addiction researcher Jane Maxwell. “No one is paying attention.”

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Doctors in emergency departments are seeing evidence of the drug’s resurgence, with patients presenting as agitated, paranoid, and aggressive. Healthcare workers and police officers are encountering similar cases on the streets, where suspects exhibit extremely high heart rates and require medical evaluation at hospitals before being taken into custody. In some states, such as Texas and Colorado, methamphetamine overdoses have surpassed those involving opioid heroin.

Amphetamine is a phenethylamine-class drug and a central nervous system stimulant that enhances alertness, temporarily alleviates fatigue, and increases aggressiveness. It can be used to treat asthma, sleep disorders, and hyperactivity symptoms; however, long-term use may lead to dependence, addiction, hallucinations, and delusions. Amphetamine is a legally prescribed medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while its derivative, methamphetamine (also known as crystal meth), is produced illegally. Most hospitalizations in this study were due to methamphetamine abuse.

Methamphetamine, commonly known as “ice,” was highly prevalent in the 1990s. U.S. law enforcement officials state that in recent years, the number of domestic methamphetamine laboratories in the United States has declined, while the volume of methamphetamine smuggled in from south of the border has increased significantly.

Police stated that as opioids have become increasingly difficult to obtain, more people are turning to methamphetamine, which is low-cost and readily available.

25-year-old Lupita Ruiz began using methamphetamine in her teenage years, but she says she has been sober for two years. She was hospitalized twice for methamphetamine-induced psychotic breakdowns and even spent a month in a psychiatric ward. She stated that after using methamphetamine, her heart raced, and she suffered from insomnia throughout the night.

Deaths from methamphetamine overdose are typically caused by multi-organ failure and heart attacks; additionally, strokes resulting from abnormal pulse rates and sharply elevated blood pressure can also be fatal. The federal government estimates that more than 10,000 people died from methamphetamine-related overdoses last year.

In California, the number of overdose deaths associated with amphetamines rose from 456 in 2008 to 1,036 in 2013, representing a 127% increase. Meanwhile, according to the latest data from the California Department of Public Health, the number of overdose deaths related to opioids increased from 1,784 to 1,934, an 8.4% rise.

Robert Pennal, former head of the California Department of Justice, said, “This is an incredible burden on the healthcare system.”

Furthermore, healthcare costs are also rising. A study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) based on discharge data found that amphetamine-related hospitalization costs surged from $436 million in 2003 to nearly $2.2 billion in 2015, with Medicaid being the primary payer.

“Every day, I see patients suffering from severe methamphetamine intoxication,” said Tarak Trivedi, an emergency room physician in Los Angeles and Santa Clara County. “This is a massive problem that has permeated 100% of emergency departments. Many psychiatric patients are also methamphetamine users. Some exhibit highly dangerous behaviors, requiring sedation or physical restraint.”

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In the short term, this drug causes tachycardia and hypertension. In the long term, it leads to anxiety, tooth loss, and weight loss.

Jon Lopey, the coroner of Siskiyou County in Northern California, stated that local law enforcement officers frequently encounter methamphetamine users who are prone to violence and experiencing psychotic episodes. Many of these individuals are emaciated, suffer from tooth loss, exhibit dilated pupils, and engage in self-harm behaviors.

A study published in JAMA found that, nationwide in the United States, amphetamine-related hospitalizations were primarily due to mental health or cardiovascular complications resulting from the use of this drug. Approximately half of amphetamine-related hospitalizations also involved at least one other substance.

“Because opioids have received so much attention, ‘we have not been monitoring other drug use trends as closely as we should,’” said Dr. Tyler Winkelman, a physician at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis and the study’s author.

Unlike opioid addiction, methamphetamine addiction cannot be treated with medication. Patients rely more heavily on counseling services provided by outpatient and inpatient treatment centers. Dr. Erik Anderson, an emergency room physician at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California, notes that it is sometimes difficult for clinicians to distinguish between symptoms of methamphetamine intoxication and underlying mental health conditions. Patients may also use other substances concurrently with methamphetamine.

The opioid epidemic led to approximately 49,000 overdose deaths in the United States last year, prompting bipartisan federal legislation to address the crisis by expanding treatment access and curbing drug trafficking across the border.

But recently, legislative bodies have not taken similar measures against methamphetamine or other drugs. Maxwell, a researcher at the Addiction Research Institute of the University of Texas at Austin, stated that medical resources for treating amphetamine addiction are simply insufficient to reduce hospitalizations and deaths.