Posted on 03/25/2006 4:58:48 AM PST by Kjobs
July 18, 2005 -- The number of Americans admitted to hospitals and clinics for treatment of methamphetamine and prescription painkiller addictions rose sharply in 2003, federal health officials said Monday.
Nearly 117,000 Americans entered hospitals and clinics for treatment of methamphetamine addiction in 2003, a 10% rise from the year before. Treatments for abuse of prescription narcotics like OxyContin rose 12% to more than 48,000 in 2003, the latest year with available data, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Several states, including Arkansas, California, and Utah, saw their rates for admission for abuse of methamphetamine jump more than 20%, according to the HHS.
The data come from the department's Treatment Episode Data Set, which culls state reports of drug treatments and aggregates them for national figures.
"The alarming growth of methamphetamine use and, in part, its popularity, can be explained by the drug's wide availability, ease of production, low cost, and its highly addictive nature," says Charles Curie, director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency within HHS. Curie made the comments in a news release from the agency
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.webmd.com ...
Its really unfortunate that they are just now releasing three year old data - it makes it look like prescription narcotic use is rising.
If you don't think perscription narcotic ab/use is on the rise, then you've really had your head in the sand. Drug stores in Dayton and Cincinnati are being robbed daily -- and not for cash, but for "Oxy" and Vicodin.
Without Meth, the show COPS would be a lot less entertaining.
--So why are they being treated? They made the decision to take this drug (which has not been approved by the FDA or the EU) so who cares?
Because they're human beings who made a mistake?
So true. I'm originally from Florida and there is a special type of meth using hillbilly from my home state.
Interesting tidbit: volunteer groups who regularly clean up the roads, highways, ditches won't do it anymore because of "ditched" meth paraphanalia. This was an article in our local paper recently.
"Interesting tidbit: volunteer groups who regularly clean up the roads, highways, ditches won't do it anymore because of "ditched" meth paraphanalia. This was an article in our local paper recently."
Yuck... I wonder "meth paraphanlia" is... you would think it couldn't be worse than the needles they use for other drugs.
This is a huge problem for Wisconsin, too. We get it coming into our state from Chicago and from the Twin Cities.
And, as an added bonus, we just had a huge cocaine bust in Sun Prairie this week. They were moving coke out of that house BY THE POUND.
When they showed those arrested on TV last night, they sure didn't look Amish to me. *Smirk*
Maybe they're talking about propane bottles (or fire extinguishers) that have been altered to store anhydrous ammonia...packages of lye...other caustic chemicals. Another thing meth addicts do, in their uber-paranoia, is save their own urine in bottles. The thinking is that they can reclaim the unmetabolized meth from the urine. Maybe they toss this stuff if they're thinking they're going to be raided.. or just under some paranoid delusions.
Yep..all those you mentioned. Dangerous stuff.
{retch}
OK I concede the point - there are worse things than used needles :(
Bull, people choose to take drugs, it's not a mistake. People do not accidentally put the pipe or whatever in their mouths and take a hit, it's intentional.
I'm sick of people blaming everyone but themselves for their own actions. If you choose to take drugs then you pays the price.
Fine. They are human beings who made a bad choice. I hope they get help.
Yeah the garbage produced by Meth Labs is pretty intense. My dear old mother who works for Child Protective Services has told me many a horror story. Houses that are so contaminated that cops need protective clothing to enter but kids are living there breathing this stuff in. Parents passed out with the kids eating from garbage cans .... the list goes on.
I've always wondered why she does the job and keeps on doing it. She loves kids is always her answer.
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