22 November 2019 — 1553 mst
A quick look at drug overdose death trends in Montana
Sen. Steve Daines, U.S. Attorney General William Barr, and regional law enforcement leaders are meeting near Kalispell this afternoon to discuss concerns about the use of methamphetamine in Montana, which may be increasing.
One metric for assessing the extent of meth use is the number of overdose deaths per 100,000 persons. The graph below, using Centers for Disease Control data, displays the overdose death rates in Montana for all drugs, non-opioid drugs (mostly meth, so far as I can determine), and opioids.
Assuming that non-opioid overdose deaths are predominately caused by meth, the CDC’s data support the assertion that meth use is increasing in Montana.
Law enforcers are aware of the overdose deaths metric, but also consider violations of drug laws in assessing the severity of the situation. Because most possession and use of meth is a crime, they examine the number of arrests for possession and use, the amount of meth that is sold illegally, the amount of meth seized in raids of dealers, the amount of money involved, and the incidence of crimes committed by people under the influence of meth. That’s not an unreasonable approach for analyzing the situation.
What is unreasonable is the belief that more law enforcement, more crackdowns on drug use, and more severe punishments for users, will solve the problem. We know from experience that it won’t. Concentrating on the supply of illegal drugs does nothing to reduce the demand for illegal drugs. Reducing the demand for drugs requires addressing the social pathologies that drive people to drugs.
At The Montana Post, a writer using the nom de plume Matthew Downhour posted an Open Letter to Steve Daines: Let’s Address Meth as a Health Issue. That’s the approach most likely to succeed. But it’s not an approach that’s likely to come out of the Daines-Barr meeting.