Daily News | As meth overdoses spike in NJ and PA, advocates call for better treatment for people who use stimulants
Overdose deaths involving methamphetamine have increased sharply in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where a sevenfold rise in death rates between 2015 and 2019 was the highest in the country,which produces an energizing high by increasing activity in the central nervous system.
Pew analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control that showed a 170% increase in the number of meth-related overdose deaths nationwide between 2015 and 2019. She said people who typically use opioids may be turning to meth because of its low price and long-lasting high — and as a way to stay safe.In Philadelphia, meth was previously used mostly as a party drug among men who have sex with men, Shinefeld said.
Meth contaminated with fentanyl is only part of the problem - meth users are at greater risk for long-term health issues, such as brain damage and dental problems, and many lack adequate access to needed health care, Lowry said.Many people who die from overdoses with meth in their systems are also found to have used fentanyl, a synthetic opioid much more potent than heroin.
Fentanyl is driving many deaths that involve stimulants, officials say. In 2020, 568 of the 1,214 people who died of an overdose death had used a stimulant and an opioid. Just 146 of the year’s overdose deaths involved only a stimulant.constellation of psychological and physical symptoms