Stimulant use disorders in the young adult Medicaid population have increased dramatically over the past two years, and this is possibly associated with an increasing use of both prescription and illicit stimulants. Because of the rise in stimulant‐involved overdose deaths, there is a need for treatments for stimulant use disorder for young people, researchers urge. Currently, 4.5 million individuals in the United States meet the criteria for stimulant use disorder, with the highest prevalence in young adults, leading the researchers to conduct this study. They used administrative health care claims data from Medicaid, covering adolescents and young adults, in three age ranges ‐‐ 13‐17 years old, 18‐24 years old, and 25‐29 years old. They compared 2001 (5.7 million Medicaid enrollees in the sample) to 2020 (16.1 enrollees). From 2001 to 2020, the proportion diagnosed with stimulant use disorders increased from 0.09% to 0.49% in those aged 18 to 24 years, from 0.13% to 1.63% for ages 25 to 29 years, and from 0.10% to 0.91% among young adults aged 18 to 29 years. Among adolescents, the proportion diagnosed with stimulant use disorders varied between 0.03% and 0.07%. The proportion diagnosed with cocaine use disorders was stable in young adults (range, 0.17%‐0.79%) and declined in adolescents (from 0.04% to 0.01%). Cocaine and non‐cocaine psychostimulant use disorders were 2 to 4 times more common in patients with an ADHD diagnosis or stimulant prescription. Most patients diagnosed with a stimulant use disorder in 2020 were also diagnosed with a mental health disorder or other substance use disorder. Bushnell G, Keyes KM, Zhu Y, et al: Stimulant Use Disorder Diagnoses in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicaid Enrollees. JAMA Psychiatry. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.2864 Published online October 15, 2025.
Alison Knopf (Fri,) studied this question.