HHS earmarks $15 million for treatment, prevention of stimulant use in rural areas

HHS has announced nearly $15 million in funding will be granted for rural communities to address psychostimulant misuse and related overdose deaths.

The department acknowledged in a press release that the overdose crisis is now largely characterized by deaths involving illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, and psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, as well as prescription stimulants for conditions such as ADHD or depression.

"The nation’s overdose epidemic has taken too many lives too soon, particularly across our rural communities,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in the release. “The department is committed to expanding access to substance use prevention, treatment and recovery services as part of our National Overdose Prevention Strategy."

Drug overdose deaths involving psychostimulants increased from 547 in 1999 to 23,837 in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the rate of deaths associated with psychostimulants, which, in general, is higher in rural than in urban areas, HHS stated in the release.

Additionally, cocaine and psychostimulant-involved overdose deaths disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minority populations, including Black and American Indian/Alaska Native populations, according to the release.

"While we work to stop the devastation caused by fentanyl, we cannot and will not lose sight of the role psychostimulants are playing in the nation’s substance use crisis,” Carole Johnson, administrator for the Health Resources and Service Administration, said in the release.