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Abstract

The economic cost of methamphetamine use reached more than an estimated $23.4 billion in 2005 — the true economic burden is somewhere between $16.2 billion and $48.3 billion. Most of the expense results from the intangible burden that addiction places on dependent users and their premature mortality and from crime and criminal justice costs. Although the cost estimates focus attention on the primary cost drivers, more work is needed to identify areas in which interventions to reduce meth-use harms could prove most cost-effective.

Although the prevalence of amphetamines, particularly methamphetamine (meth), has recently increased, meth is not nearly as much a part of the national discussion as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and prescription-drug abuse are. This is partly because the meth situation is a complicated story of conflicting indicators. National household surveys and school-based studies suggest that meth is a drug of relatively minor concern, but regional data systems, law-enforcement agencies, and county hospitals indicate that meth is the most significant problem facing the populations they serve. Also, despite the documented harms associated with meth use, research has not attempted to quantify the cost or burden that meth places on society.