The local news seems tobe full of stories about methedrine-synthesis labs. Is it because meth is a cheap drug to make? Or ismeth now the IN drug? Exactly how hard is it to synthesize methamphetamines at home-do you need any exotic materials to do this?
How aboput the process itself-it seems you use a lot of volitile solvents to do this-which makes the risk of fire/explosions very real.
Anyway, are we in an epidemic of abuse of these drugs?
Meth labs are exploding (pun intended) because methamphetamine is cheap to make and highly profitable.
I was at a training just last week, and learned about the ingredients of meth labs and the dangers associated with them. It’s bad news. The drug is highly addictive. The chemicals are very volatile. If the cooking isn’t done properly, the potential for fires and explosions is high. If there are any children in the home, they’re being exposed to hazardous materials as well as neglect and/or active abuse by drugged out caretakers. The process of cooking the meth creates a lot of toxic waste.
Meth is bad news.
I think this will be better answered in GQ for right now. At least, that’s the meth to my madness.
Perhaps. But the OP is asking, “Why now?”
Is meth cheaper to make than in the past?
What’s this ‘why now’ thing? They’ve been going strong in my neck of the woods quite a long time.
I first saw crystal meth in 1983, in California. It’s been around awhile, but it’s grown rapidly in the past few years. The ingredients are easy to get; over-the-counter cold and asthma medications containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, drain cleaner, battery acid, lye, antifreeze are some commonly used ingredients that don’t cost much, in comparison to what the dealers can make.
Here’s a good site that answers a lot of questions about meth.
Kansas has been having a big problem with meth production and trafficing for quite some time. I think it’s just become “glamorous” in pop culture. It may also be that the non-rural police have finally waked up and realized that they have had a problem with it for some time. Just as an example, in order to purchase Sudafed or anything that has pseudoephedrine in it you have to ask at the counter in Wal-Mart, and for a while there you had to produce ID and sign for it, and on the form you signed it informed you that your purchases of this item were being monitored, and if you purchased “too much in a given time” you might be investigated. (At least, IIRC that is what the Wal-Mart forms said in essence.)
Ditto. I know here in downstate Illinois, it’s been a problem for years. A quick search through my local newspaper’s online archives shows that in my county alone (pop. ~90,000, consisting of about 30k in a city and the rest in small towns or rural), law enforcement professionals found more than 900 meth labs in 2003 alone, but we’ve been hearing about it for much longer than that.
One possible reason for the midwest draw is that (apparently), anhydrous ammonia is used in the production of meth. Around here, anhydrous ammonia is hauled by the traincar-full, for farmers to use as fertilizer.
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- Meth production has exploded for the obvious reason: all the separate ingredients are legal and available locally in many parts of the country.
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If you wanted to illustrate the absurdity of US drug policy, the illegality of crystal meth would be a pretty good first exhibit. And I’m not even a fan of narcotic use.
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Same here in Memphis.