In 2021, 32,537 people died from an overdose involving psychostimulants, according to CDC data. “Transnational drug trafficking organizations have improved manufacturing methods to drive down purity-adjusted prices through increased specialization via industrial-scale manufacturing. EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A viral Facebook post declaring Indiana, and specifically Evansville and Vanderburgh County, the “meth capital of the world” is making rounds early this week and causing some concern among Tri-State residents.
How Much Meth Does Your State Cook? These Maps Show the Drug’s Foothold In America
Mexico can be considered the meth capital of the world because most of the crystal meth in the U.S. is supplied by Mexican cartels. There are plenty of meth labs in Mexico in which distributors make the drug using a range of household drugs and chemicals such as lithium and ammonia. Despite the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 and other efforts against crystal meth trafficking, Mexican cartels and manufacturers still find ways to smuggle the drug into the U.S.
These organizations have also diversified their precursor chemical use, shifting among suppliers and chemicals to keep authorities off balance. The criminal groups produce most of the methamphetamine using what is known as phenyl-2-propanone, or P2P. There are two main methods to produce P2P, and the criminal groups have oscillated between them, investigators say. Australia ranked the highest in terms of methylamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA combined use when compared to other nations such as New Zealand, United Kingdom, Portugal and South Korea. Illicit stimulants are showing early signs of increase post-pandemic, but not yet to the levels recorded pre-COVID-19.
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Aside from being the first line of defense against the production and sale of meth, police forces and state authorities also implement community-based prevention programs. These seek to create awareness and discourage drug use among youth in particular. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has enacted regulations on the ingredients used to make meth, such as pseudoephedrine and ephedrine. Restricting access to these drugs is an effective way of limiting the production and use of methamphetamine.
- Evansville was once described as the “meth capital of the world” although the number of methamphetamine-related incidents in 2019 has greatly decreased since 2013.
- The below maps show where meth labs have been identified and seized.
- Crystal meth creates a euphoric high by activating the release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which plays a role in reward and mood.
- The top counties in Indiana with meth lab seizures were Delaware, Vigo, Knox, Bartholomew, and Jackson.
- Meth use increases domestic violence and coercion within relationships, affecting children.
One of the biggest drivers of drug use is stress, and factors such as the coronavirus pandemic, Im Bored .. And Drinking Gives Me Something To Do. the state of the world’s economy, the political climate in many countries, and the largest war in Europe since World War II have provided a surplus of stress in recent years. Afghanistan may not be the world’s leading producer of opium for much longer. The ruling Taliban have come out strongly against the opium trade, and have banned the cultivation of poppies in the country.
ACIC principal advisor for drugs, Shane Neilson, said the Australian illicit drug market was supplied by both international imports and domestic manufacturing. “Regular and near-real-time wastewater reporting enables the ACIC and our partners to detect and respond to increasing drug threats in a timely way and monitor the impact of responses.” Australia has topped the list of methylamphetamine use among more than 20 countries, a wastewater analysis has found. The program is open to anyone who has become dependent on methamphetamine and has not used for three weeks.
Wastewater Analyses In Europe
In 2017, Adelaide’s wastewater revealed between 507 and 659 milligrams of methamphetamine — or “ice” — per 1,000 people each day, compared with between 270 and 331mg in Canberra and Toowoomba. Of the overdose deaths registered in 2019, 52 happened in New Hampshire, which is part of the reason why the Adderall pills caught DEA Agent DeLena’s attention. These criminal organizations go by a plethora of sometimes dynamic monikers. They include the Guerreros Unidos and Rojos (both formerly under the banner of the Beltrán Leyva Organization), the Cartel del Norte (formerly the Zetas), and the Juárez Cartel and La Línea (the latter having split off from the Juárez Cartel). However, counterdrug officials and experts say these groups may be as much brand names as criminal organizations allowing for varying degrees of independence at the base level, especially with the barriers of entry becoming lower.
The person making the meth takes ingredients from common cold pills (hence the new restrictions on buying medicines that contain pseudoephedrine). The initial synthesis process is actually very easy, according to Breaking Bad’s chemistry adviser, Dr. Donna Nelson. It found wastewater testing “provides updated and objective estimates of drug use and allows identifying and highlighting new trends and specific profiles of use much earlier” than other indicators. “… And there’s been plenty of initiatives around that reduction of methamphetamine use in Adelaide since 2017.” Adelaide, Canberra and Toowoomba were the three Australian cities out of 120 worldwide to have their sewage monitored in the study of 60 million people between 2011 and 2017.