Tomorrow is Already Here, Or is it? Steps in Preventing a Local Methamphetamine Outbreak

This paper reports on a research-driven community-based effort to assess the potential for a local methamphetamine drug epidemic and to build a public campaign to head off or at least minimize the potentially severe health and social costs of the spread of a powerful stimulant drug like methamphetame to a new area. Drawing on diverse national and local datasets, as well as on several years of monitoring changing drug use patterns and analysing illicit drug difussion, community researchers in Hartford, CT identified a reasonable likelihood that methamphetamine—which is rarely used in the city currently—would spread and cause a significant local drug epidemic. In response, community efforts were initiated to draw attention to this looming public health problem and to build a broadbased, citywide primary prevention campaign. Based on a review of the spread of methamphetamine nationally, and the considerable health problems that result from methamphetamine addiction, this paper describes the implementation ph...