The resurgent popularity of methamphetamine (meth) has been considered a problem unique to the Southwestern United States (in particular, San Diego) since the mid- to late 1980s. Now, however, this powerful, synthetic stimulant is making its way across the country. Meth is showing up throughout the nation's heartland in rural and urban areas alike.
Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), said in a 1997 press conference, "[Methamphetamine] has become the dominant threat to law enforcement in parts of Missouri and Kansas. It's in beautiful rural Idaho and it is now, to my astonishment, showing up in Atlanta."1
In fact, the production, trafficking, and use of methamphetamine has become so prevalent from Oregon to Iowa that the region has earned the not-so-endearing nickname of "the crank belt."2
In Billings, Montana, meth use has risen over the past four years to rival marijuana and cocaine as the city's most-favored illegal drug.3 As one policeman notes in reference to the problem, "It's pretty much all we deal with now."4
In January of this year, the Globe-Gazette, a North Iowa newspaper, ran the questioning headline, "North Iowa a Meth Mecca²" after drug raids revealed evidence of significant meth trafficking in the area. Ken Carter, the director of the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, is quoted as saying, "It's [the meth problem] a frightening epidemic, and trust me, we are doing everything to put a stop to it."5
Minnesota has not gone untouched by the problems associated with meth use. School-based chemical health specialists and all levels of law enforcement have reported growth in meth-related activity this year.
Emergency Department mentions of meth rose 12 percent from 1995-96 (from 80 to 90 mentions). Treatment admissions for meth use more than doubled from 1996-97 (from 270 to 586 admissions).6
Younger Minnesotans account for a large proportion of meth users. The proportion of persons age 25 or less who received meth-related treatment increased from 40 percent of admissions in 1996 to 46.5 percent of admissions in 1997.
Despite an apparent increase in meth use, meth-related deaths in Minnesota have been few. In 1995, Hennepin County, Minnesota reported three meth overdose deaths. Two such deaths were reported for 1996 and 1997. During that same period, Ramsey County reported two meth overdose deaths per year.7
Increasing Number of High-Risk Production Laboratories
Meth poses a threat not only to its users, but to the general population in any community where it is manufactured. Though the majority of the supply originates in Mexico, the drug is often produced in the US in clandestine laboratories by persons who lack the knowledge and the skill to produce the drug properly. Improper use and storage of chemicals and equipment combine to "create a highly dangerous environment where the potential for chemical spills, fire, explosion, and environmental contamination could have significant impact on the public's health."8
Meth production in Utah is a growing problem. One hundred and thirty production labs were seized in 1997, compared to only 30 lab seizures in 1995.9 From 1992-96, clandestine laboratory seizures rose 300 percent in the Midwest. In 1996, 236 laboratories were seized in Missouri alone.10
In Minnesota, 15 meth labs were seized in just the first four months of 1998, compared to the 22 labs that were seized in all of 1997.11
Stopping Methamphetamine's Sprawl
Many efforts are under way to address meth problems. In 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996 (MCA). This allowed for more control of the chemicals used in producing meth, increased penalties for the trafficking and manufacture of meth and listed chemicals, and broadened controls to include the distribution of lawfully marketed drug products which contain the listed chemicals ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenyl-propanolamine.12
Also in 1996, the ONDCP-funded High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, which provides resources to areas determined to have the most critical drug-trafficking problems that affect the rest of the country, identified five new HIDTAs. Two of those HIDTAs were established to battle rising meth use, trafficking and production: the Midwest HIDTA (Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Missouri) and the Rocky Mountain HIDTA (Utah, Wyoming and Colorado).
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is fighting meth by, among other things, targeting meth trafficking organizations, increasing chemical diversion investigations, purchasing clandestine laboratory trucks, establishing a National Clandestine Laboratory Database and contributing to the hazardous waste cleanup of clandestine laboratory sites.13
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is also acknowledging the problem. In December 1996 NIDA launched an Institute-wide Meth Initiative that will expand meth research and apply the findings to the prevention and treatment of meth abuse. Last year the Institute received $4.2 million from the ONDCP to broaden meth research, and this year another $2 million in special funds were awarded by the Director's Office of the National Institutes of Health.14
Minnesota efforts include changes in Minnesota law that will take effect January 1, 1999. In order to address the increasing problem of clandestine meth laboratories in Minnesota, the manufacture of any amount of meth will be a first degree controlled substance crime.15
It is too soon to know what sort of results these and other efforts will have. One thing, however, is quite clear-at least for the short term: meth use is spreading, and roadblocks must be established nationwide to put an end to meth's cross-country trip.
There are other efforts underway to prevent meth trafficking, production and abuse that are not covered in this article. For additional information, please call Traci Yavas at the Minnesota Prevention Resource Center at 612-427-5310, 800-247-1303 in MN.