Galen Scott

gscott@weatherforddemocrat.com

In 2006, the Drug Enforcement Administration reported more than 7,300 meth lab incidents around the nation. Of the 132 clandestine labs busted in Texas, at least nine were in Parker County.

Approximately 5 percent of the American population — 12 million people — habitually use meth, known locally as speed, crank or La Tina. However, despite a growing body of research, defining the typical meth user remains a complex task.

Research suggests men and women ages 19 to 40 in southern and western states are consuming the most meth, but adults of all age groups and economic levels currently report some meth use.

One survey found some women believe using meth will help them lose weight and as a result, are more likely to use meth than cocaine. However, a number of other studies conclude men and women generally suffer the same likelihood for meth use.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the average age of first meth use was 22 in 2004.

In a recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services analysis of hospital emergency room admissions in which meth was a factor, approximately 40 percent of patients were female, 65 percent were white, and 56 percent were between the ages of 18 and 34.

A veteran drug enforcement official with the Parker County Sheriff’s Office recalled witnessing meth users as young as 14 years old, and as old as 72.

Researchers with the University of Michigan found meth use among high school students declined 28 percent in the last five years. According to the newly-released report, the annual prevalence of meth among eighth, 10th and 12th graders across the country has dropped by about two thirds from what it was in 1999.

The appearance of meth infused with artificial flavors like strawberry drink mix could represent an effort by some dealers to recapture teenagers disinterested in the drug. In response, a bill is currently moving through Congress which would impose an increased criminal sentence on anyone found guilty of marketing controlled substances to minors.

Despite a drastic decline in domestic production since 2004, the DEA reports admission figures at publicly-funded meth treatment centers have significantly increased since 2000, more than doubling from 67,568 in 2000, to 152,368 in 2005.

Experts blame production facilities and drug trafficking organizations in Mexico for the sustained pattern of widespread meth use.

Mexican super labs are considered primarily responsible for more than 2,700 kilos of meth seized moving across the U.S./Mexico border last year. Highlights from last year’s National Institute on Drug Abuse work group suggest most meth users in Texas smoke “ice,” the high-purity crystalline meth produced in Mexico.

Efforts by the Mexican government to curb commercial pseudoephedrine imports resulted a drop from 226 metric tons in 2004, to just 43 in 2006. However, according to the DEA, Mexican traffickers distributing Mexican methamphetamine continue to dominate domestic markets.

As a result of the Mexican crackdown on ephedrine imports, U.S. Department of state reports suggest Colombian drug manufacturers are smuggling ephedrine shipments into Colombia for subsequent sale to Mexican traffickers.

“Detailed information on the extent of their operations is limited; however, this practice of smuggling ephedrine from Colombia, through Central America, to Mexico will very likely escalate as the government of Mexico further reduces legal importation of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine,” says the DEA’s newly-declassified National Methamphetamine Threat Assessment 2008.

“Moreover, large-scale methamphetamine production is increasing in Canada as outlaw motorcycle gangs and Asian drug trafficking organizations expand their methamphetamine operations.”

Last year, Mexican authorities and the DEA seized $207 million cash from chemical brokers supplying Mexican cartels producing meth for export to the United States. The bust reportedly represents the largest cash seizure in history.