According to FDSS data,the amount of methamphetamine seized by federal law enforcement officials inFlorida fluctuated but increased dramatically overall from nearly 10 kilogramsin 1997 to 85 kilograms in 2001. Methamphetamine producers in Florida often steal the chemicals necessary for production. Most local methamphetamine production occurs in single-family homes, apartments, storage buildings, cars, and wooded areas. According to local law enforcement officials, local methamphetamine producers frequently steal anhydrous ammonia–a common fertilizer–from farms, often placing the liquid in containers such as propane tanks, coolers, fire extinguishers, and other containers. Many of these containers are not designed to store anhydrous ammonia, which is highly corrosive and toxic, leading to a potential hazard. When collecting other essential chemicals such as pseudoephedrine, methamphetamine producers often avoid large retail stores in which employees are more likely to report suspicious purchases or detect thefts.
Furthermore, California and Texas, two border states have the highest number of users, which suggests there is a link between the flow of drugs and states with the most users. Florida reported 59 meth seizure incidents in 2018, the tenth-highest in the U.S. In 2017, there were 868 meth-related deaths in Florida with Calhoun Country being the hardest hit in the state. The number of meth-related deaths in Florida has increased dramatically over the past two decades. With a total of 144 incidents, Indiana has the third-highest meth prevalence.
Meth addiction is a major problem nationwide and if you’re addicted to meth, there is help available for you. At Briarwood Detox Center in Houston and Austin, we provide safe medical observation and monitoring for people who are going through meth withdrawal. With informed and caring treatment services, we can ensure that you are comfortable and safe while you detox from meth and move on to the next stage of your treatment.
- The event focused on fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid that is often mixed with other drugs.
- The Bakersfield Police Department reported that, aside from marijuana, meth made up about 75% of all drugs seized in the city in 2018.
- Meth is indeed uniquely suited to Middle America, though this is only tangentially related to the idea that it can be made in the sink.
- Mississippi’s State legislature passed the prescription-only law for pseudoephedrine products in 2010; the law takes effect in July 2010.
- Potency refers to the dosage needed to affect a person, while purity is the amount of drug in a given sample.
- Detectives learned that one of the suspects arrested, Demarcus Terrell Jefferson, lost his brother, Devontae, as a result of an overdose of fentanyl and Xanax.
Break Free From Your Addiction Today
Under the new measure, people trafficking between 14 and 28 grams of fentanyl will face 15 years to 20 years. Meth is made with simple household products, which makes it one of the easiest meth capital of florida drugs to access. According to The National Institute on Drug Abuse, meth users are more susceptible to extreme weight loss, tooth decay, anxiety and hallucinations. 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. RAND estimated there were just over two million cocaine users in 2016, down from nearly four million in 2006.
A Wide Array of Criminal Actors
To address the meth crisis, law enforcement, and other agencies have implemented various strategies. Neighborhoods suffer from the devastating effects of systemic violence, meth trafficking, and dealing. The production of meth also leads to contaminating surrounding properties with toxic waste and chemicals. The drug is often cheaper than prescription and other illegal substances, making it attractive to those with limited financial resources. Reports show that meth-related arrests, overdose deaths, and hospitalizations have grown significantly in recent years. Approximately 2.5 million people aged 12 and older reported using methamphetamine in the U.S., according to a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Florida’s ‘Meth Island’ is one of more than 4,000 islands in the state. Who owns them?
Treatment data indicate that there are fewermethamphetamine-related admissions to publicly funded treatment facilities inFlorida than for cocaine, heroin, or marijuana. According to TEDS data, thenumber of methamphetamine-related treatment admissions increased from 379 in1997 to 467 in 2001. These include the interception of drug shipments and drug traffickers, meth lab seizures, and increased border security. There is a substantial flow of drugs entering the country from Mexico as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have seized 123,573 pounds of meth at the southern border.
The Administration’s Efforts to Prevent the Production and Use of Methamphetamine
In May 2002 a Mexican American, the head of a methamphetaminedistribution organization based in Haines City (Polk County), pleaded guilty todistributing multiple pounds of methamphetamine each week in that area. Theorganization laundered as much as $30,000 a week through the purchase and saleof used cars at a dealership owned by the defendant. According to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 1.2 million people (0.4% of the population) reported using methamphetamine in the past year alone, and 440,000 (0.2%) reported using it in the past month. In Tulsa County, Oklahoma, police identified 979 contaminated meth lab sites — the most of any county in the nation.
The island, more officially known as Pelican Island, according to South Daytona police Lt. Kevin Pedri, is just one of several islands in the area created from the dredging of the Intracoastal Waterway. And those islands are just some of the more than 4,000 islands of 10 acres or more around Florida. Since exploding onto the American drug scene in the 1980s, meth has spread rapidly across the U.S, but we haven’t nailed down a single stronghold for it.