methamphetamines

Calming techniques officers learn during training for intervening in a mental health crisis don't seem to work as well when a suspect is high on meth. Police say meth calls can be much more dangerous.

The amount of meth seized in the U.S. more than doubled from 2017 to 2018. That translates to lots more meth, along with cocaine and other stimulants, on the streets — and likely more deaths.

Once a tiny specialty that drew mostly psychiatrists, addiction medicine is expanding its accredited training to include residents from specialties like family medicine who see it as a calling.

While opioids get all the attention, rural communities struggle with substances like meth and alcohol too. One clinic is building up capacity to treat all of them, using both medicine and counseling.

As illegal meth use has made a comeback across the U.S., pregnant women have not been spared, doctors say. New research shows rural areas in the South, Midwest and West have been hit hardest.

Meth is back "with a vengeance," police say. Now made mostly by superlabs in Mexico, it is stronger, cheaper and more prevalent, cutting across demographic barriers and sparking serious crime.

Despite a reputation for being suspicious of government and outsiders, some rural residents now say state funds are needed to help fix the big economic and drug problems faced by small towns.

Last year, 280 Coloradans who died of a drug overdose had methamphetamine in the mix. That's up sharply from 2016 and more than five times the number in 2012.