Hot days and methamphetamine are now a deadlier mix

Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Increasingly hot summers and methamphetamine are a deadly mix. The stimulant is playing an outsize role in heat-related deaths across the United States. An Associated Press analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that methamphetamine is showing up more often on the death certificates of people who die of heat-related causes. Methamphetamine is even more common than the deadly opioid fentanyl in heat-related deaths. A Mexican-manufactured version of meth has taken hold in recent years, especially in the U.S. border region. The stimulant increases body temperature and impairs a part of the brain that regulates body heat.