Adolescent methamphetamine use is a prominent concern for Canadian media and government. Few empirical studies, however, have
established the scope of adolescent methamphetamine use or associated outpatient substance abuse treatment utilization. The
current study aimed to answer the following questions: (1) What was the overall proportion of primary methamphetamine-related
cases seen at youth outpatient substance abuse treatment centres in British Columbia in 2005–2006?; (2) What kind of treatment
programming did these treatment centres offer primary methamphetamine users?; and (3) How prepared were these treatment programs
to provide services to primary methamphetamine users? We developed a comprehensive list of all sites offering outpatient substance-abuse
treatment programs for youth in British Columbia. We asked the Executive Director (or designate) of each facility about the
program’s annual caseload, proportion of primary methamphetamine-related cases, treatment approach, and preparedness to provide
effective treatment for methamphetamine users. Responses were received from 68 of the 80 centres on our final master list.
Approximately 11% (780/6,840) of all cases at the sites were due primarily to methamphetamine use. The proportion of primary
methamphetamine-related cases varied widely across sites in B.C., with contacted centres reporting between 0–65% of their
caseload in 2005–2006 as primarily methamphetamine-related. Almost all facilities integrated primary-methamphetamine users
into treatment-as-usual, and few centres (12%) felt inadequately prepared to offer treatment for methamphetamine users. The
current study found a substantial proportion of all cases seen at youth outpatient substance abuse treatment centres in British
Columbia in 2005–2006 were primarily due to methamphetamine misuse. While most treatment sites integrated youth methamphetamine
users into regular treatment programming and few treatment directors indicated that their programs were inadequately prepared
to offer treatment services to methamphetamine-using clients, more evidence is needed to ascertain the most effective treatment
strategies for methamphetamine users.
Keywords Methamphetamine - Adolescents - Canada - Outpatient treatment