Methamphetamine Facts

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Methamphetamine Facts

Overview: Crystal and crystal meth are common street names for methamphetamine, the most hypercharged member of the amphetamine drug family. Widely used in the 1960's and early '70s for its intense effects, crystal virtually disappeared in the 1980's, but has resurfaced on a massive scale nationwide in recent years.

 

Appearance: White crystalline powder. Although legal amphetamine is odorless, illegal forms of the drug often have a strong ammonia smell, due to incomplete clearing of solvents or reagents during manufacture.

 

Street Names: Crank, meth, go-fast. Smokeable forms of crystal are called "ice" or "glass."

 

Actions/Effects: Crystal increases arousal in the central nervous system by pumping up levels of two neurotransmitters, norepinephrine and dopamine. At low doses, it boosts alertness and blocks hunger and fatigue. At higher doses, it causes exhilaration and euphoria. At very high doses, the drug can cause agitation, paranoia, and bizarre behavior. Physical effects include increased heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature.

 

Medical Uses: Because of its short-term appetite-suppressant effects, Desoxyn®, a prescription form of methamphetamine, is prescribed as a temporary treatment for obesity.

 

Risks/Side Effects: Anxiety, emotional swings, and paranoia are the most common psychological effects of chronic use. Symptoms increase with long-term use, and can involve paranoid delusions and hallucinations. Violence and self-destructive behavior are common. Overdose is also a risk with crystal. Symptoms include fever, convulsions, and coma. Death can result from burst blood vessels in the brain (triggered by spikes in blood pressure) or heart failure.

 

Duration: Depends on dose and how the drug is administered.

 

Trends: Crystal use soared during the late-1990's and early 2000's but has fallen off in recent years. A main reason has been the nationwide movement to restrict distribution of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, necessary ingredients in bootleg methamphetamine production.

 

Demographics: Whenever crystal rears its ugly head, it causes problems for people, especially those unaware of its potential for physical and psychological harm. That's the reason that, despite falling use levels, meth still managed to land 97,842 users in hospital emergency rooms during 2008.

 

Statistics About Meth

In 2005, nearly 6.2% of high school seniors reported using methamphetamine at least once.

The number of 12-17 year olds admitted to treatment for meth addiction more than doubled between 1994 and 2004.

In North Dakota, an estimated 60% of the male prison population are meth users. 80- 90% of the female prison population were incarcerated for meth related offenses.

 

More than 85% of meth in the US comes from superlabs in California and Mexico. Mexican drug rings often use safe houses on Indian reservations to facilitate distribution into North Dakota.

 

In 2004, 8,000 meth labs were seized in the US. Child welfare workers removed more than 3,000 children from the labs.

According to the North Dakota Attorney General’s office, state legislation which controlled sale of over-the-counter cold medications like Sudafed reduced the number of local labs significantly from 190 lab incidents in 2005 to 40 in 2006.

The manufacture of a pound of meth creates 5-6 pounds of toxic waste. Minnesota drug officials closed down a meth lab in 2003 being operated in a ice-fishing shack. The cookers were dumping waste into the ice hole, poisoning the lake.

Small clandestine labs use any of hundred of different recipes to manufacture meth. Because the recipe using anhydrous ammonia was developed by the Germans during WWII, it is called the "Nazi" method of meth production.

Meth manufacture creates toxic fumes and hazardous waste by-products that can poison water, pollute lakes, permeate walls and flooring and cause fires and explosions.

 

MethWatch is a program piloted in Nebraska. The program is used to train retail sales personnel to recognize individuals purchasing large quantities or shoplifting products which can be used to cook meth:

Cold remedies containing pseudophedrine

Lithium batteries

Rock salt

Lye

Iodine

Paint thinner

Drain cleaner

Heet gasoline additives

Aluminum foil

Matchbooks (red phosphorus)

 

It takes only $1,000 worth of ingredients to make $20,000 worth of meth.

According to police, the price of a dose of cocaine that would give a user a 20 minute high will buy enough meth to keep a user buzzed for a day or two.

 

The makeshift equipment of an average clandestine lab would fit in a small cardboard box or cooler. Meth labs have been set up in kitchens, bath tubs, sheds, back yards, ice houses and vehicles.

According to experts, successful prevention programs:

 

start early

are comprehensive

use multiple venues

repeatedly stress key points

rely on verifiable facts to illustrate points

 

Domestic methamphetamine production, trafficking, and abuse are concentrated in the western, southwestern, and midwestern United States. Methamphetamine is also increasingly available in portions of the South and eastern United States, especially Georgia and Florida. Clandestine laboratories in California and Mexico are the primary sources of supply for methamphetamine available in the United States.

 

Over the last decade, the methamphetamine trafficking and abuse situation in the United States changed dramatically. In 1994, ethnic Mexican drug trafficking organizations operating "super labs" (laboratories capable of producing in excess of 10 pounds of methamphetamine in one 24-hour production cycle) based in Mexico and in California began to take control of the production and distribution of methamphetamine domestically. Independent laboratory operators, including outlaw motorcycle gangs, previously maintained control of methamphetamine production and distribution within the United States, and continue to operate today on a lesser scale. The entry of ethnic Mexican traffickers into the methamphetamine trade in the mid-1990s resulted in a significant increase in the supply of the drug. Mexican criminal organizations, based in Mexico and California, provided high-purity, low-cost methamphetamine originally to cities in the Midwest and West with Mexican populations.

 

In 2001, approximately 8,000 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were seized and reported to the National Clandestine Laboratory Database at the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC). In 2001, 298 seized super labs were reported to EPIC. This represents a rise in the number of superlabs from 2000, in which the total number of superlabs totaled 168. Further, for all of calendar year 2000, the Tijuana Residence Office (TJRO) reported only two seized methamphetamine laboratories. During calendar year 2001, the number of clandestine laboratories seized in Baja California Norte increased substantially, with 24 clandestine laboratories seized as of December 2001. The majority of these laboratories have been seized in the cities of Tijuana and Mexicali. Due to the proximity of these laboratories to the United States, it is believed that the majority of the methamphetamine was bound for the United States.

 

According to EPIC, the methamphetamine seized annually in transit from Mexico to the United States has increased dramatically since 1992. Authorities seized 1,370 kilograms of methamphetamine along the border in 2001, compared with only 6.5 kilograms in 1992. The primary points of entry into the United States for methamphetamine produced in Mexico have traditionally been California ports of entry, particularly San Ysidro. Although a great amount of methamphetamine still transits this area, ports of entry in South Texas have experienced increases in smuggling activity, although this activity appears to be stabilizing. The most common method of transporting methamphetamine is within concealed compartments in passenger vehicles.

 

The supply of methamphetamine in the United States also stems from multiple small-scale laboratories, often operated by independent cooks who obtain the ingredients necessary for manufacture from retail and convenience stores. Methamphetamine produced in these "mom-and-pop" laboratories is generally for personal use or limited distribution. A clandestine laboratory operator can use relatively common items, such as mason jars, coffee filters, hot plates, pressure cookers, pillowcases, plastic tubing, and gas cans to substitute for sophisticated laboratory equipment. The growing use of the Internet, which provides access to methamphetamine "recipes," coupled with increased demand for high-purity product, has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of mom-and-pop laboratories throughout the United States. In 2001, the number of labs with capacities under ten pounds totaled over 7,700.

 

Methamphetamine precursor chemicals diverted to large clandestine laboratories in the United States are usually dosage-form pseudoephedrine or ephedrine drug products. Because of law enforcement attention and strong state precursor control laws in California, traffickers have now diversified to pseudoephedrine suppliers nationwide, buying at relatively lower prices in other parts of the country and trafficking the product to California, where the black market price can bring up to $5,000 per pound of product.

 

Nationwide networks of suppliers, working together, now provide ton quantities of pseudoephedrine tablet products to the market in California and to distributors in other states. The latter divert the product to local methamphetamine laboratories. Small-scale lab operators commonly buy over-the-counter pseudoephedrine products in small amounts from legitimate retailers. Recent reporting indicates that Canadian companies are a major source of supply for pseudoephedrine destined for U.S. laboratories because of minimal chemical controls in Canada. On March 7, 2002, search warrants were served on two residences, one in Paramount and the other in Lynwood, California. Four hundred containers of 25,000 count pseudoephedrine jars, or "pickle jars," (approximately 10,000,000 tablets) and $1,502,000 USC were seized. The pseudoephedrine is believed to have originated in Canada.

 

Pseudoephedrine and ephedrine are also purchased from unscrupulous U.S. distributors who sell case quantities of the tablets. Ultimately, the tablets are destined for California where they are manufactured into multiple pounds of methamphetamine. The finished methamphetamine is then distributed throughout the United States through preexisting smuggling methods to the traffickers.

 

In addition, the use of methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) has been encountered as a "cut" in methamphetamine produced primarily by Mexican organizations. Legitimately used as a dietary supplement for horses and humans, MSM is readily available at feed and livestock stores, as well as health and nutrition stores. The addition of MSM can be used to add volume to the finished methamphetamine, thus increasing the profit. Increases in the use of MSM may be a signal of difficulty in obtaining precursors, or a simple marketing method to meet demand while increasing profit.

The crystalline form of methamphetamine, known as "ice," "glass," or "crystal," is gaining popularity. Converted from powder by criminal elements in Southeast Asia, Mexico, and the United States, ice traditionally was used in Hawaii and southern California. More recently, its use has spread along the West Coast and Southwest border areas.

The importation of methamphetamine tablets from Southeast Asia, primarily via the mail system, remains a potential threat. Produced mainly by the United Wa State Army, the largest heroin and methamphetamine trafficking group in Burma, the tablets, which weigh approximately 90 milligrams (mg), typically contain 25 to 30 mg of methamphetamine, and 45 to 65 mg of caffeine. Although it is believed that the tablets are trafficked primarily by ethnic Thais or Laotians for use in the Asian community, it is possible that larger amounts will be smuggled into the United States if demand increases outside that community.

 

Purity

Until 1999, the methamphetamine problem was increasing at an alarming rate. International chemical control efforts reduced the supply of those chemicals needed to produce high-quality methamphetamine. As a result, the national purity level for methamphetamine has decreased dramatically. The average purity of methamphetamine exhibits seized by DEA dropped from 71.9 percent in 1994 to 30.7 percent in 1999. The average purity of methamphetamine exhibits seized by DEA in 2000 rose slightly to 35.3 percent and 40.1 in 2001.

 

Prices

Methamphetamine prices vary throughout different regions of the United States. At the distribution level, prices range from $3,500 per pound in parts of California and Texas to $21,000 per pound in southeastern and northeastern regions of the country. Retail prices range from $400 to $3,000 per ounce.

 

Seizures

According to the FDSS, U.S. federal authorities seized a total of 2,807 kilograms of methamphetamine in 2001 compared to 3,373 kilograms in 2000.

In 2000, authorities seized 301,697 SEA methamphetamine tablets in U.S. Postal Service facilities in Oakland, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. This represents an 656-percent increase from the 1999 seizure total of 39,917.

 

 

 

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