Meth use by Utah women soaring

The annual snapshot of drug abuse in Utah shows that more than 100,000 Utahns, about a fifth of whom are under age 18, are addicted to alcohol and other drugs.

The "critical issue" the past year, according to the annual report by the state Division of Substance Abuse, is methamphetamine use among young women. It is an "especially serious" problem that is worsened by the fact that nearly 70 percent of the women admitted for treatment of meth addiction have dependent children and are in their prime child-bearing years.

Use of "club drugs" such as so-called date-rape drugs and ecstacy is also increasing and raising the concern of agency officials who monitor abuse throughout the state.

"Club drugs are often presented as harmless, and we are working to dispel that misconception," said Pat Fleming, division director, adding that efforts to discourage the use of alcohol, tobacco and all other drugs of addiction will continue.

Methamphetamine, a form of speed, is cheap, easy to make and is one of the main contributors to Utah's crime problem, according to the report. Reasons young women use the drug are widely varied, but many say they began using it to give them an energy boost in dealing with the pressure of family and daily life.

It also helps in weight loss and is often referred to as the "Jenny Crank" drug as a play on the Jenny Craig weight loss clinics, the report states.

During the 2001 fiscal year that ended June 30, more than 2,400 women were treated in Utah for addiction to methamphetamine. They are 10 to 15 years younger than people in other treatment programs and represent well over a third of the women who were receiving drug addiction treatment.

One of the several startling figures in the report shows that the past decade has seen a large increase in the number of women who have entered treatment programs compared to men. There were 12,383 men admitted into treatment in 1991 compared to 13,889 in 2001. That is 1,506 more admissions, or a 12 percent increase over the past 10 years.

For women over the same time, 2,679 women were admitted in 1991 and 6,580 in 2001. That is an increase of 3,901 admissions or a 145.6 percent increase.

Some other statistics about meth users:

• 10 percent of the more than 2,400 women in drug treatment for meth were homeless.

• 40 percent had not yet completed high school; 37 percent had only completed high school or received their GED.