United States Office of National Drug Control Policy – 2022
This report present a plan from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for effective public health and public safety interventions for addressing the use of methamphetamines in the United States. Recommended actions are proposed for reducing supply reduction and trafficking, supporting research on methamphetamine use, preventing methamphetamine use, developing harm reduction programs, providing training and education for law enforcement, and addressing policy barriers to successful treatment. Information is then provided on the epidemiology of prescription stimulants, forms of methamphetamine, and mortality rates and precautions. Data is shared that indicates overdose deaths involving psychostimulants more than quadrupled from 2013 to 2019 (from 1.2 to 5.0 per 100,000, respectively), and as of November 29, 2021, provisional estimates for January through December 2020 show 24,309 overdoses involving psychostimulants, accounting for approximately 26% of the estimated 93,145 overdose deaths in the United States in 2020. It is further noted that although overall drug overdose age-adjusted death rates are highest in urban counties, the rate of drug overdose deaths involving psychostimulants in 2019 was 1.4 times higher in rural counties than in urban counties. The populations most affected by methamphetamine use are discussed, as well as polysubstance use. The next section focuses on methamphetamine supply and describes shifts in production, supply, forms, and use of methamphetamine, interdiction and enforcement, and justice system involvement and alternatives to incarceration. Law enforcement interventions for acute simulant intoxication are also reviewed. Health and treatment interventions are reviewed in the following section, including treatment for amphetamine-type substance use disorder, contingency management and implementation challenges, recovery from amphetamine-type stimulant use disorder. The final section discusses proposed metrics for monitoring illicit methamphetamine use.