All-cause mortality among individuals with disorders related to the use of methamphetamine: A comparative cohort study
Authors: Callaghan RC, Cunningham JK, Verdichevski M, Sykes J, Jaffer SR, Kish SJ.
BACKGROUND: Understanding the mortality rate of methamphetamine users, especially in relation to other drug users, is... more
BACKGROUND: Understanding the mortality rate of methamphetamine users, especially in relation to other drug users, is a core component of any evaluation of methamphetamine-related harms. Although methamphetamine abuse has had a major impact on United States (US) drug policy and substance-abuse treatment utilization, large-scale cohort studies assessing methamphetamine-related mortality are lacking.
METHODS: The current study identified cohorts of individuals hospitalized in California from 1990 to 2005 with ICD-9 diagnoses of methamphetamine- (n=74,139), alcohol- (n=582,771), opioid- (n=67,104), cannabis- (n=46,548), or cocaine-related disorders (n=48,927), and these groups were followed for up to 16 years. Age-, sex-, and race-adjusted standardized mortality rates (SMRs) were generated.
RESULTS: The methamphetamine cohort had a higher SMR (4.67, 95% CI 4.53, 4.82) than did users of cocaine (2.96, 95% CI 2.87, 3.05), alcohol (3.83, 95% CI 3.81, 3.85), and cannabis (3.85, 95% CI 3.67, 4.03), but lower than opioid users (5.71, 95% CI 5.60, 5.81).
CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that individuals with methamphetamine-use disorders have a higher mortality risk than those with diagnoses related to cannabis, cocaine, or alcohol, but lower mortality risk than persons with opioid-related disorders. Given the lack of long-term cohort studies of mortality risk among individuals with methamphetamine-related disorders, as well as among those with cocaine- or cannabis-related conditions, the current study provides important information for the assessment of the comparative drug-related burden associated with methamphetamine use.
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A working draft of a paper describing the problems and potentials of the drug ephedra, both today and thousands of... more
A working draft of a paper describing the problems and potentials of the drug ephedra, both today and thousands of years ago.
I look forward to your comments to help me improve this paper.
Trends in Primary Methamphetamine-Related Admissions to Youth Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities in Canada, 2005–2006 and 2009–2010
Published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
Authors:
Verdichevski M, Burns R, Cunningham JK, Tavares J, Callaghan RC.
Objective: During the last decade, methamphetamine use and issues surrounding its toxicity have triggered major... more
Objective: During the last decade, methamphetamine use and issues surrounding its toxicity have triggered major concern in the Canadian government, leading to significant changes in drug policy and funding strategies to limit the societal impact of methamphetamine-related harms. This concern appears justified by research which found in 2005–2006 that 21% of all youth admissions to inpatient substance abuse treatment centres in Canada were due primarily to methamphetamine abuse. Given these patterns of treatment use and targeted governmental initiatives, an open question is whether the demand for methamphetamine treatment found in 2005–2006 has decreased. Our study aims to provide follow-up estimates of admissions for 2009–2010, as well as important trend information for these periods.
Method: We developed a comprehensive list of all Canadian residential youth substance abuse treatment facilities. The executive director of each facility was asked about the site’s annual caseload, and the proportion of cases primarily due to methamphetamine abuse within the past 12 months.
Results: Our survey data for the periods of 2005–2006 and 2009–2010 show marked reductions in admissions. In 2009–2010, we found that about 6% of all admissions were due primarily to methamphetamine abuse, a substantial drop from the 21% reported in our 2005–2006 study.
Conclusions: Our data show a significant national reduction in methamphetamine-related admissions. Other reports show that methamphetamine-related treatment admissions in the United States and Mexico declined sharply during 2005–2008, reportedly in association with Mexico’s methamphetamine precursor chemical controls, raising the possibility that the controls may also be associated with the declines reported here.
Addiction and sociality: Perspectives from methamphetamine users in suburban USA
Boshears, P., Miriam Boeri, and Liam Harbry. Addiction Research & Theory. 19(4):289-301. 2011.
This article contributes to a growing body of literature that emphasizes the social nature of drug use, abuse and... more This article contributes to a growing body of literature that emphasizes the social nature of drug use, abuse and addiction. Current discourses of addiction tend to focus on the individual while limiting attention on the social environment and the role of sociality. We seek to contribute a more intuitive, insiders’ perspective of the drug trajectory and a broader conceptualization of addiction. Drawing from our qualitative study on 100 current and former methamphetamine users in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia (USA), we examined the trajectories of methamphetamine use to provide greater insight on what influences drug initiation, progression, cessation and relapse from the users’ perspective. Findings show that the entire drug trajectory is intertwined with, and impacted by, sociality for the majority of drug users in our sample. Moreover, the findings of our study increase our understanding of multiple routes to recovery. We join the call for greater attention to drug use and addiction as a social behavior and future research that focuses more on the role of sociality among drug users.
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Addiction Discourse and Sociality: Perspectives from Methamphetamine Users in Suburban U.S.
Harbry, Liam; Miriam Boeri, PAUL BOSHEARS, & David Gibson
This paper contributes to a growing body of literature that emphasizes the social nature of drug use and addiction,... more
This paper contributes to a growing body of literature that emphasizes the social nature of drug use and addiction, specifically the central role of sociality in drug use. We start with a discussion of the minor role of sociality in contemporary addiction discourse. Based on findings from our qualitative and ethnographic study on 100 current and former methamphetamine users in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, we present the users’ stories of their initiation into, continuation, cessation and relapse of methamphetamine use to provide greater insights into the social experience of addiction. Findings show the entire drug trajectory is more dependent on social relations and environment than any other factor alone for the majority of drug users in our sample. We add to the call for a greater endorsement of the sociological insights to the nature of addiction and further investigation of addiction discourse using the addicts’ own accounts (Bailey 2005).
Keywords: methamphetamine, addiction discourse, sociality, qualitative research
Funding provided by NIDA Award Number R21DA025298