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By: Jill Miyamura, Ph.D.
11/24/2008
Methamphetamine or “meth” is also known as speed, ice, and crystal. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, methamphetamine is the “‘drug of choice” in Hawaii.1 Its effects include cardiovascular and psychiatric disturbances. Meth accounts for more emergency room visits that any other drug, based on a survey by the National Association of Counties.
How prevalent is Meth use in Hawaii?
In Hawaii, an estimated 13,900 persons aged 12 or older used methamphetamine in the past year, or 1.09 percent of the population. Hawaii ranks 13th among all States (high: Nevada, 2.0 percent; low: New York, 0.1 percent). In 2005, 40 percent of all drug-related visits to emergency rooms in the state are because of amphetamine abuse/dependence.
How is Hawaii doing?
Between 2000 and 2006, the rate of hospitalization per 100,000 Hawaii population due to meth increased 41 percent, with the hospitalization rate highest on Oahu and Maui. The highest rate of meth use (as measured by hospitalization and emergency room utilization) is in the Waianae region of Oahu, with a rate of 529 admissions per 100,000 population…double the rate of any other measured area in Hawaii. Individuals aged 20 to 44 are at highest risk. Among individuals aged 25 and older, males are more likely to be admitted. Surprisingly, for individuals 10 to 24, females are more likely to be admitted for ampthetamine use/dependence. Hawaiians have the highest admission rate for amphetamine, Chinese the lowest. The cost of treating patients with this drug problem is expensive, totaling over $43 Million in hospital and ED charges in 2006 alone. The public was responsible for paying 66 percent of those charges, another 16 percent were uninsured.
Other views
• By county
• By sub-county
• By year
• By age
• By year and gender
• By payer
• By race
Data notes
ICD9 codes: 30440-30442, 30570-30572 (codes are specific to amphetamine as codes specific for methamphetamine do not exist)
Source of data
Hawaii – HHIC Online Reports, Inpatient Database and ED Database.
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1 Office of Applied Studies, The NSDUH Report, 2006, ‘State Estimates of Past Year Methamphetamine use’.
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