Figures Show Major Surge in ‘Speed’ Use

Amphetamine-related emergency admissions to hospitals increased 67% in 1994 in Orange County and 49% statewide, the largest one-year jump ever observed for an illicit drug in the state, according to a report issued today by the nonprofit Public Statistics Institute in Irvine.

Emergency room admissions for amphetamines--generally considered a good indicator of overall use of the drugs--dipped in 1990 and 1991. But they have surged ever since, especially in the state’s rural areas, where the drugs--particularly methamphetamines--can be manufactured with ease by solitary chemists in clandestine laboratories.

“We tend to think of drug problems in urban areas, among minority groups,” said psychologist James K. Cunningham, author of the study and director of the institute. “This is one that is taking place in rural and suburban areas and largely among whites.”

Cunningham said the fact that Orange County has a large white population, the group with the highest incidence of amphetamine use, may be a key factor in the large increase.

The study, conducted by Cunningham and his colleague Margaret A. Thielemeir, found that the greatest increases in 1994 occurred in four largely rural areas: the Santa Barbara County-Ventura County region, Santa Clara County, Central California, and the mid-coast region. Admissions in each of those areas jumped more than 100%.

In fact, San Francisco’s long-standing position as the region with the highest amphetamine use ended in 1994. Sacramento County--with 83.3 amphetamine-related admissions per 100,000 residents--easily surpassed San Francisco’s 78.8 admissions per 100,000.

In Orange County, local trends mirrored the statewide findings, Cunningham said.

Emergency admissions in Orange County, for example, fluctuated throughout the late 1980s, rising in 1987 and dipping in 1988, then increased sharply from 1991 through 1994.

Also, while cocaine-related admissions outnumbered amphetamine incidents in many other counties, the two were about equal in Orange County.

Amphetamine-related admissions statewide--which averaged 31 per 100,000 residents and totaled 10,167 in 1994--are gaining on cocaine-related admissions, which reached a peak of 13,496 that year. Cocaine-related admissions have increased 266% since 1985, while amphetamine-related admissions have increased 460% during the same period.

Hospital admissions for amphetamine use rose 35% in 1994 in Los Angeles County, 67% in San Bernardino County and 39% in San Diego County.

Hospital charges for amphetamine-related admissions in 1994 totaled about $141 million, with nearly a third of that being paid by Medi-Cal, the state and federally funded public insurance program administered by the state. Only one in four of those admitted had private health insurance.

The epidemic of amphetamine use is largely one involving white males. Although whites represent less than half of the total state population, they accounted for 75% of amphetamine-related hospital admissions in 1994.

Males outnumbered females two to one. However, among those under 18, women slightly outnumbered men, which may reflect an increased use of the drugs by teenage girls for dieting, Cunningham said.

Methamphetamine--the most commonly abused amphetamine, known as speed, crank, or, in a highly purified form, ice--produces euphoric effects that last longer than those of cocaine. The drugs can be snorted, smoked, injected or swallowed. They cost about the same as cocaine and are more widely available.

Amphetamines are widely perceived to be safer than cocaine, but Cunningham said they are not. Health problems that can result from their use include nervousness, irritability, restlessness, paranoia, psychosis, chest pains, irregular heartbeat and seizures.

Cunningham and Thielemeir culled their data from computerized records of the California Hospital Discharge Data System, which has data about every admission to non-federal California hospitals since 1983.

Times staff writer Geoff Boucher contributed to this story