Senate Recognizes National Methamphetamine Awareness Month

On October 2, the Senate passed, by unanimous consent, S. Res. 703, a resolution designating November 2008 as National Methamphetamine Awareness Month. The Senate passed an identical resolution (S. Res. 366) in November 2007 (see The Source, 11/16/07). 

The resolution contains a number of findings, including: 

• the profile of methamphetamine is changing, as three-fifths of the nation’s sheriffs report increased methamphetamine use by women and half of the nation’s sheriffs report increased use by teens;
• in surveys on the abuse of methamphetamine by teens, many of the respondents said that the drug was easy to get and believed there is little risk in trying it; and
• National Association of Counties surveys have shown that methamphetamine also places significant burdens on local social service and health care resources, increasing out-of-home placements for children, sending more people to public hospital emergency rooms than any other drug, and producing an ever-growing need for methamphetamine treatment programs.