WASHINGTON – The number of people seeking treatment for methamphetamine abuse more than quadrupled from 1993 to 2003, a report released Thursday said.
States in the Midwest and South that had few meth abuse patients a decade ago are now seeing a sharp rise in the rate of admissions to treatment centers, according to the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The findings mirror the trend of meth abuse moving gradually from the West — where the drug first became popular — across the Midwest and South to the East Coast.
Nationwide, the admission rate for treatment of methamphetamine or amphetamine addiction rose from 28,000 in 1993 to nearly 136,000 patients in 2003, the report said.
The report found 18 states with meth treatment rates higher than the national rate: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Northeastern states had low rates of treatment admissions for meth and amphetamine abuse in 1993 and those rates remained low in 2003, the report said.
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