Pubdate: Sat, 22 Jun 2013
Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
Copyright: 2013 Star Tribune
Contact: http://www.startribunecompany.com/143
Website: http://www.startribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/266
Author: Joy Powell

MINNESOTA HEROIN USE STILL HIGH - NOW METH'S BACK, TOO

Deaths and hospital admissions linked to meth are climbing.

With heroin and other opiate use remaining at what experts call
alarmingly high levels, there's new cause for concern: Methamphetamine
is back.

The resurgence of the dangerous, addictive meth is described in a new
report on drug trends in the Twin Cities by Carol Falkowksi, a private
consultant and former drug abuse strategy czar for Minnesota.

Meth overdose deaths rose from 10 to 21 from 2011 to 2012 in Ramsey
and Hennepin counties alone, there are more emergency-room admissions
and the number of meth labs is beginning to creep up again after state
and federal efforts to shutter them a half-dozen years ago, she said.

The stimulant accounted for nearly a quarter of all drugs seized by
police in the seven-county metro area last year.

"It's the No. 1 drug seized," Falkowski said, adding that there's no
single reason for the resurgence.

Across the state, 27 meth labs were busted last year, compared with 18
in 2011 and 100 in 2005 - when state and federal laws were being
rewritten to limit sales of precursor ingredients and authorities shut
down mom-and-pop meth labs.

Serious issues tied to meth emerged about a decade ago in Minnesota,
with concerns that county jails were filling with thieving addicts,
that teen girls who tried it to lose weight were getting hooked, and
that people were unwittingly buying homes where meth had been cooked.

"By 2005, there was hardly a Minnesota community untouched by meth,"
said Falkowski. "Now that is the case with heroin and opiate
addiction, and add to the mix the looming resurgence of meth."

By 2006, the number of meth labs was dropping off dramatically in the
state. But much of meth flows into the Midwest from Mexico,
authorities say, and demand for the addictive stimulant never died.
Some meth cooks also have figured out ways to have lots of people buy
small quantities of a government-limited precursor ingredient,
pseudoephedrine.

The number of meth deaths in the past year is small but frightening in
implications, Falkowski said. Hospital emergency-room visits due to
meth use rose 59 percent from 2009 through 2011.

And treatment admissions climbed by 20 percent from 2011 to
2012.

Meanwhile, opiate deaths in Ramsey County have soared, from 36 in 2011
to a record high of 45 in 2012. That's a 25 percent increase,
Falkowski said.

In Ramsey and Hennepin counties combined, opiate-related accidental
overdose deaths rose 40 percent from 2010 to 2012, up from 92 to 129
dead.

Heroin-involved emergency-room visits nearly tripled from 2004 to
2011, Falkowski's report said.

"Heroin-related admissions to addiction treatment centers were at
record-high levels in 2012, accounting for 12.9 percent of total
admissions to treatment," Falkowski said. "Among these individuals,
41.6 percent were between the ages of 18 and 25."

Last year, of 21,051 people who sought chemical dependency treatment
in the metro area, 7.4 percent were primarily addicted to meth. Heroin
was the reason for 12.9 percent of all admissions.

Alcohol accounted for 46.5 percent of all admissions to treatment.
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MAP posted-by: Matt