Part A - Society for Public Health Education

Information SheetHelping Communities CombatClandestine Methamphetamine LaboratoriesPart A: An Educational Toolkit for Health EducatorsInformation on Community LeadersMethamphetamine’s Impact on CommunitiesMethamphetamine (meth) may have already affected your community. If not, it ismost likely on its way. At the same time as meth is hitting communities throughoutthe United States, many communities are facing budget cuts and dwindlingresources. Law enforcement departments, health care facilities, and child welfareand public health agencies are struggling to do more with less funding. Meth useand production has a severe and costly impact on our homes, schools, workplaces,hospitals, child welfare agencies, law enforcement, and environment. Meth’s impacton your community may include the following• serious or potentially fatal health effects of meth use and production• serious environmental and health consequences caused by meth labs andchemical dump site contamination• increased demands on medical, public health and social services, jails, firedepartments, and law enforcement agencies• increased crime and violence, including theft, sexual assault, and homicide© 2007 Society for Public Health Education• increased child abuse, neglect, and endangerment• additional pressure on educators, parents, units of government, and communitiesas a whole.Recent Statistics• Data from the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed192,000 recent meth initiates (i.e., persons who used meth for the first timein the 12 months before the survey), and an estimated 1.3 million personsaged 12 or older had used meth in the past year (556,000 of these werefemale and 741,000 male). In 2004 there were 318,000 recent meth initiates,and 1.4 million people had used meth in the past year.Part A: An Educational Toolkit for Health Educators31