More at-risk teens using meth: study

More treatment funding needed for vulnerable adolescents who are increasingly using methamphetamines, says researcher.

Used syringes (AAP) Source: AAP

The number of troubled adolescents using methamphetamines has doubled in the five years to 2014, says new research.

Almost 60 per cent of young people entering rehab in 2014 said they were using the drug, up from 30 per cent in 2009.

The study involved 865 teens, aged between 14 and 18, who entered Ted Noffs Foundation residential drug and alcohol treatment programs at four NSW and ACT sites from mid-2009 to the end of 2014.

Published in the Australian Medical Journal, the study examined trends in reported current drug use.

The findings reveal a need for more government funding for drug and alcohol treatment programs and follow-up services for vulnerable teenagers including accommodation support after rehab, said lead researcher Dr Sally Nathan from UNSW.

The adolescents in the study recorded higher levels of use of cannabis, tobacco and alcohol than meth.

But it was the only drug to show a significant upward trend over time, becoming the most commonly report drug of greatest concern in 2014.

Of those who reported using methamphetamine in 2014, almost 85 per cent were inhaling the drug as smoke or vapour, up from 12 per cent in 2009.

A crystal meth pipe, commonly used to smoke the drug crystal methamphetamine, or "ice". (Pic:AAP) Source: AAP

This suggests the form of the drug being used had shifted from powder to ice or crystal, said the researchers.

They also found that young people who had unstable living arrangements and who were known to police were more likely to report current methamphetamine use, as were those enrolled in special education classes at school.

"Broad-based, ice-related education campaigns are well and good, but they must be supplemented by a more targeted approach to early intervention and treatment for those who are most vulnerable," Dr Nathan said.