Meth-user mortality rates raise the stakes amid record-breaking temperatures

Substance use played a part in 65% of the heat-related deaths in Maricopa County last year.

PUBLISHED SEP 11, 2024

Meth-related or meth-caused heat deaths were nearly twice as high as for fentanyl.

Phoenix, Arizona: A new USA Today report has shed light on the effect, often fatal, Phoenix's record-breaking summer has had on homeless drug-users; methamphetamine users in particular.

According to Maricopa County’s Heat-Related Illness and Death Dashboard 58% of heat-related deaths this year were drug users. The report stated that Meth use by itself can cause heat stroke and death even when used at room temperature, as the drug frazzles the body’s heat-regulation systems and spurs motion that generates internal heat.

In Phoenix, amphetamines — mostly meth — were either the primary cause of death or a related cause in 51% of the record 645 heat deaths in Maricopa County last year. The county's total of 645 combines both heat-caused and heat-related deaths. Last year, Maricopa County's worst year when it comes to heat-related deaths, substance use played a part in 65% of the deaths.

According to a 2023 paper in the 'Journal of Burn Care', "On a summer day in the desert southwest, ground surfaces can soar to 180F, posing significant risk to individuals who sustain contact with such surfaces, particularly if unable to get up. These individuals are also at risk for heat stroke. This summer, an increased number of patients admitted with contact burns were positive for methamphetamine and concomitant heat stroke."

The paper concluded that "while historically, the at-risk patient population for surface-related contact burns has been elderly individuals prone to falls with limited physical ability to get up. This summer [2023] highlighted a new phenomenon of younger individuals suffering both contact burns and heat stroke secondary to the combination of methamphetamine use and elevated summer temperatures."

Meaningful reductions in drug possession arrests and drug-related deaths may not be achieved without shifting to a public health response. (Graphic source: Pew Charitable Trusts)

While homeless drug users are more at risk than sheltered drug users, even among people who have homes, meth-related or meth-caused heat deaths were nearly twice as high as for fentanyl.

A 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report stated supervisors should be aware of potential hyperthermia-inducing synergy between amphetamines, physical activity, and environmental heat.

"Workers should not use illicit amphetamines to maintain alertness or enhance performance, especially when heat stress is present. Prevention of illicit amphetamine use is important, not only to avert hyperthermia but also to prevent other adverse effects," the report added.

The USA Today report stated that Meth users may experience body temperatures as high as 110F. Survivors of hyperthermia may still suffer from permanent brain damage.

A 2022 study suggests health care workers could administer coral calcium hydride to meth users experiencing hyperthermia. The compound "inhibited meth-induced depression-like behaviors" and reduced brain damage, the study says.