Dr. Michael Silverman finds meth use is more common among women and older Ontarians
The largest analysis of its kind in North America, using Ontario urine drug-screening data, challenges the image of the typical user.
Dr. Michael Silverman, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Schulich and medical director of the Infectious Diseases Care Program at St. Joseph’s, led a study of Ontario urine drug-screening data published in the Canadian Journal of Addiction. It found that four of every 10 people using methamphetamine are female, one in five is older than 50 and four in 10 live in deep poverty.
The study is the first to use urinalysis data from across Ontario. Women tested positive about eight times more often than in studies based on self-reported use. Silverman offers two explanations: some people may not know what they are taking, since meth is sometimes laced into other substances, or may feel less safe disclosing it in surveys.
He says stereotypes of the average patient are often off-base, and that treatment aimed mostly at young men could miss other vulnerable groups. Researchers at Schulich and the Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph’s Health Care London carried out the work.
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