A Worldwide Addiction Epidemic

Meth’s toxic ingredients lead to severe tooth decay known as meth mouth, where teeth become black, stained and rotten. The teeth are often damaged to the point of having to be pulled, gums are destroyed from the inside and the roots rot away.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that about 27 million people worldwide use amphetamine-type stimulants (including methamphetamine).

Meth use in the United States is a significant problem. Deaths linked to meth rose from 5,526 per year to 15,489—an increase of roughly 180 percent.

The US government reported that, in one year, approximately 2 million Americans aged 12 and up used methamphetamine, with 184,000 trying it for the first time. Around a million people aged 12 and up suffer from meth addiction.

In Czechia, meth is known as Pervitin and is widely abused. Although its use is primarily within the country, Pervitin is also exported to European countries. Czechia, Germany, Slovakia and Türkiye account for 90 percent of people requesting treatment for methamphetamine abuse in Europe.

In Southeast Asia, the most common forms of methamphetamine are crystal meth (called Shabu in the Philippines) and a small pill called a Ya Ba in Thailand.

Updated: 2025