Methamphetamine never received the notoriety or news attention that opioids did – at least not until recently. Now headlines from medical journals, government agencies, popular magazines to radio stations are screaming warnings about the dangers and increases in methamphetamine use.
Methamphetamine (meth) abuse is growing. The drug is becoming easier to get and is inexpensive. It is also highly addictive, and methamphetamine treatment can be complicated. Unlike some substance abuse disorders that are treated with medications, at this time there are no medications that have proven effective to counteract the effects of methamphetamine or improve abstinence rates for people seeking recovery from methamphetamine addiction.
As the much-publicized war on opioids continues, another drug is quietly regaining momentum and leaving a deadly path of destruction. Methamphetamine is back. Back in a very big way.