Methamphetamine in America

Methamphetamine is an illegal, powerful stimulant. Many users refer to the drug as “ice” or “glass”. It is a schedule II controlled substance associated with serious health conditions, including memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior and potential heart and brain damage. Methamphetamine has a direct connection to crime throughout the United States due to the powerful hold it has over its abusers. Law enforcement in the United States has taken great measures to seize laboratories, stop distribution and trafficking and to prevent other meth-related crimes. This potent stimulant is still being referred to as an “epidemic” and causing great harm to our communities. The National Association of Counties (NACo) conducted a survey of law enforcement and county child welfare officials in order to determine the impact methamphetamine has had on county services and their communities. The NACo report declares that, “The methamphetamine epidemic in the United States, which began in the West and is moving east, is having a devastating effect on our country. The increasingly widespread production, distribution and use of methamphetamine is now affecting urban, suburban and rural communities nationwide.” Methamphetamine laboratories can be found all across the nation. Manufacturers are setting up shop in barns, garages, the back rooms of businesses, apartments, hotel and motel rooms, storage facilities, vacant buildings, wilderness areas (both public and private), and vehicles. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy in March 2009, there were 966
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meth lab incidents nationwide, compared to 756 incidents in March 2008 and 596 incidents in March 2007. In southern states, meth lab incidents for Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida show an increase of 254% from 63 in March 2007 to 223 in March 2009 (NSS 2010). In 2005, Congress passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act, requiring businesses who sell

References: National Association of Counties. (January 2006). Retrieved September 5, 2006, from The Meth Epidemic in America Web site: http://www.naco.org Office of National Drug Control Policy www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov National Seizure System, (NSS), EPIC, extracted 4/21/2010 Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/arrestee-drug-abuse-monitoring-program National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Web Site) www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh.aspx