By UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN: Complete Post through this link…
A staggering 50-fold increase in deaths related to methamphetamine has been recorded since 1999.
The mortality rate due to methamphetamine use in the United States has seen a fiftyfold surge between 1999 and 2021, according to a report published in the American Journal of Public Health. The study also highlights that a majority of these deaths also involved heroin or fentanyl.
“We looked at trends from 1999 to 2021 and we saw this staggering increase in methamphetamine mortality accompanied by a proportional increase in those deaths that also involved heroin or fentanyl,” said Rachel Hoopsick, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of kinesiology and community health who led the research.
Study Finds “Staggering Increase” in Methamphetamine Deaths – And It Has No Signs of Slowing Down
TOPICS:DrugsMethamphetamineMortalityOpioidsPublic HealthUniversity Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign
By UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, NEWS BUREAU MARCH 17, 2023
Many meth-related deaths are also tied to heroin and/or fentanyl, a new study finds. Credit: Michael B. Vincent
A staggering 50-fold increase in deaths related to methamphetamine has been recorded since 1999.
The mortality rate due to methamphetamine use in the United States has seen a fiftyfold surge between 1999 and 2021, according to a report published in the American Journal of Public Health. The study also highlights that a majority of these deaths also involved heroin or fentanyl.
“We looked at trends from 1999 to 2021 and we saw this staggering increase in methamphetamine mortality accompanied by a proportional increase in those deaths that also involved heroin or fentanyl,” said Rachel Hoopsick, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of kinesiology and community health who led the research.
According to a new study led by U. of I. kinesiology and community health professor Rachel Hoopsick, a fiftyfold increase in methamphetamine deaths since 1999 may be the deadly result of the contamination or co-use of meth with opioids like heroin and fentanyl. Credit: Fred Zwicky
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 608 deaths due to methamphetamine use in 1999, however, that number skyrocketed to 52,397 in 2021. Researchers Hoopsick and R. Andrew Yockey from the University of Texas, Fort Worth, discovered that a significant portion of these deaths, 61.2%, also involved heroin or fentanyl. The alarming rise in methamphetamine-related fatalities, mainly between 2010 and 2021, shows no signs of slowing down, according to Hoopsick.
“We knew from behavioral studies that the use of stimulants, in general, as well as the use of stimulants with opioids, has been increasing over the past decade or two,” Hoopsick said. “But we didn’t know how deadly it was becoming. I think what is different now versus 10 years ago is we have a much more toxic unregulated drug supply here in the U.S.”
