A new study warns that methamphetamine overdose deaths are rising across the United States, especially among blacks and Native Americans / Alaska Natives.
“While much attention is being focused on the opioid crisis, the methamphetamine crisis has been gaining strength actively, especially among Native Americans and Alaska Natives, who are disproportionately affected by various health conditions,” he said. the researcher, Dra. Nora Volkow. , director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
The researchers found that lethal methamphetamine overdoses quadrupled among American Indians and Alaska Natives between 2011 and 2018 (5 to 21 per 100,000 people). In this group, male deaths increased from nearly 6 to 26 per 100,000 and from nearly 4 to 16 per 100,000 among women.
Black Americans are also experiencing a large increase in methamphetamine overdoses, according to the NIDA report. This is a worrying trend in a group that previously had very low death rates from methamphetamine overdose.
However, methamphetamine-related deaths are on the rise among all Americans, NIDA says. Overall, fatal OD rates went from less than 2 to 10 per 100,000 men and from 0.8 to 4.5 per 100,000 women, an increase more than fivefold from 2011 to 2018, according to the report.
These findings, published Jan. 20 in JAMA Psychiatry, highlight the need to develop culture-specific prevention and treatment strategies, the researchers said.
The study’s authors noted that declining access to education, high poverty rates, and discrimination are some of the factors contributing to health disparities among American Indians and Alaska Natives.
“Populations of Native American and Alaskan Indians experience structural disadvantages, but they have cultural strengths that can be harnessed to prevent methamphetamine use and improve health outcomes for those living with addiction,” Volkow added in a NIDA press release.
A holistic approach to well-being is a deeply rooted tradition among some groups of American Indians and Alaska Natives, such as speaking circles and ceremonies. Using these traditions and other community-based approaches can be a way to help prevent drug use among young people, the study team suggested.
According to researcher Dr. Beth Han, also of NIDA, “Identifying populations with a higher rate of methamphetamine overdose is a crucial step toward curbing the underlying methamphetamine crisis. Focusing on people’s unique needs and developing interventions culturally adapted, begin to move away from unique approaches and towards more effective and adapted interventions “.
There was some good news recently when it comes to methamphetamine addiction: a couple of prescription drugs, together, seem to help patients significantly reduce their methamphetamine use or quit smoking altogether. A trial of the treatment was published Jan. 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Volkow said the “synergistic” power of using this combination of drugs – bupropion and naltrexone – is good news, representing the biggest effect seen from a large randomized clinical trial in the treatment of methamphetamine use disorder.