The number of countries reporting methamphetamine in either pill or high purity crystalline form as their primary drug of use has remained relatively constant during the past four years with methamphetamine in pill form being the dominant drug in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand and methamphetamine in crystalline form being the primary drug of use in Brunei Darussalam, Republic of Korea, Japan and New Zealand.

China has ranked methamphetamine in both crystalline and pill form as the second major drug of use in 2008, following heroin, with an increasing use trend for both forms for all reporting years between 2003 and 2008. Viet Nam has also reported an increasing use trend for methamphetamine pills for all reporting years between 2003 and 2008 and reported crystalline methamphetamine use for the first time in 2008.

In contrast, Thailand reported a notable change in the rank of methamphetamine pills and crystalline methamphetamine following its latest household survey, published in 2007. Methamphetamine in pill form ranked as the most common drug of use in Thailand between 2004 and 2006 and crystalline methamphetamine was ranked third. In 2008, methamphetamine pills dropped to number three in rank, after cannabis and kratom, and methamphetamine in crystalline form was ranked number eight. However, use of methamphetamine in both pill and crystalline form, was reported to be on the increase in 2008.

Myanmar also reported an increase in use of methamphetamine pills, extending the increasing trend to a sixth year. Lao PDR reported its first stable use trend for methamphetamine pills in 2008, preceded by five years of increasing use trend. The trend in use of methamphetamine pills and crystalline methamphetamine in East and South-East Asian countries during 2007-2008 is as shown in the figures below.

Methamphetamine related arrests have shown a sharp increase during the past several years in East and South-East Asia based on law enforcement data from countries in the region that disaggregate arrest data by drug type. The total number of methamphetamine related arrests more than doubled in 2008 compared to the number of arrests in 2004. However, the increase has been driven almost exclusively over the years by Thailand which accounted for more than 68% of arrests in 2004 and 86% in 2008.

The burden that methamphetamine use places on the justice system is considerable for many countries. In Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Lao PDR and Thailand, methamphetamine related arrests account for over 75% of total arrests for drug law violations in 2008.