Methamphetamine
Methamphetamine (meth), also known as "crystal" or "ice", is a highly addictive stimulant derived from amphetamine. Although meth can be taken in a variety of ways, most users in Indiana report either smoking it or injecting it intravenously (Indiana Family and Social Services Administration [FSSA], 2017; NIDA, 2017). Upon initial administration, meth users experience a short, intense euphoria or "rush" followed by an extended high that can last up to 12 hours due to the drug’s long half-life. Prevalence estimates on the use of methamphetamine are limited. Currently, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) does not provide state-level estimates for methamphetamine use.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) provides biannual estimates of the percentage of high school students in the 9th through 12th grade who have ever used methamphetamine in their lifetime. Estimates can be viewed by gender, race, and grade level for Indiana and the U.S. Data for Indiana are not available for 2013.
Information on persons entering substance abuse treatment related to methamphetaine use is available from the Treatment Episode Data System (TEDS). The TEDS provides the number of persons entering substance use treatment, the drugs they are using at the time of admission, the primary drug for which they are seeking treatment, as well as basic demographic information. TEDS data are available for both Indiana and the U.S.; however, TEDS data for Indiana do not reflect all persons in substance abuse treatment but only those in treatment at facilities that receive funds from the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addictions. TEDS data related to methamphetamine use can be viewed by age, race, and gender. The percent of treatment admissions related to methamphetamine can be viewed across the state for the past 10 years and trend data are available for each of Indiana’s 92 counties.
Methamphetamine Use
The following visualizations provide information on individuals who reported using methamphetamine at the time of their admission to substance abuse treatment.
Methamphetamine - Primary Substance
The following visualizations provide information on individuals entering treatment for substance abuse primarily for the use of methamphetamine.
Data on legal consequences related to methamphetamine use are available through the Uniform Crime Reporting system (UCR) maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It should be noted that data related to methamphetamine arrests are grouped with arrests related to other synthetic drugs. UCR data related to synthetic drugs contains arrests for the possession of synthetic drugs and for the sale of synthetic drugs. Data on the rate of synthetic drug arrests for each offense for the past 9 years are available for Indiana and the U.S. as well as for Indiana counties. The map provides information on the rate of each synthetic drug offense throughout the state for the past 9 years. Trend data for each county are also available.
The Indiana State Police provides annual reporting on the number of methamphetamine labs seized throughout the state and within each county. Trend data for methamphetamine lab seizures for the past 10 years can be viewed for the state and for individual counties. The map provides the distribution of methamphetamine lab seizures throughout the state for the past 10 years.