Meth use rose as pandemic hit Montana, other states, urine tests showed [View all]

Methamphetamine use, a driver of violent crime locally, grew in Montana during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, a laboratory company suggested.

Millennium Health reported a 34% increase in urine samples that tested positive for methamphetamine after President Donald Trump declared a national state of emergency on March 13. The company compared results from Jan. 1 through March 12 against the results from March 13 through May 31.

The findings were included in a report the company published in July showing increased illicit drug use nationwide in the early weeks of the pandemic.

The report authors analyzed more than 500,000 urine samples from various health care settings, although how many were from Montana was unclear.

Read more: https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/crime-and-courts/meth-use-rose-as-pandemic-hit-montana-other-states-urine-tests-showed/article_ee3a910e-9bde-5be3-9506-9509d3aeaeab.html