Has methamphetamine use dropped or is it all being imported?

[Todd.K]

You really need to separate that into two questions. Meth use in the US vs meth production in the US.

[Averageman]

You really need to separate that into two questions. Meth use in the US vs meth production in the US.

Well the reason I asked it that way is that, the Labs used to be found pretty regularly around here. Actually had one blow up 1/4 mile from the house and had a running gunfight with the cops and tweekers.
I caught my Step Son cooking in a coke bottle one time, walked right in on it.
I was thinking perhaps it had become out of vouge to do speed anymore, but if tweekers are still tweaking it's got to be coming from Mexico.
Heroin seems to be coming back strong.
Having grown up in the sixties, this speed then Heroin thing seems almost cyclic.

[Vandal]

Having grown up in the sixties, this speed then Heroin thing seems almost cyclic.

There are graphs out there that show the cycle of when CNS stimulants are popular vs when CNS depressants are popular. They are cyclical and seem to follow about a 7-10 year cycle from the last one I saw. Nationwide we seem to be in a strange spot of extended transition going to from depressants to stimulants again. It's going to get spicy again in the next few years as meth comes roaring back. It is no longer a trailer park/OMG drug, I work in a pretty affluent area and we are seeing meth in the upper middle class populations.

[Averageman]

Having seen that drug destroy my step-son, kill his wife and crap all over, then our marriage from dealing with all of that, I don't want to see the next up-swing.

[gunnerblue]

Well the reason I asked it that way is that, the Labs used to be found pretty regularly around here. Actually had one blow up 1/4 mile from the house and had a running gunfight with the cops and tweekers.
I caught my Step Son cooking in a coke bottle one time, walked right in on it.
I was thinking perhaps it had become out of vouge to do speed anymore, but if tweekers are still tweaking it's got to be coming from Mexico.
Heroin seems to be coming back strong.
Having grown up in the sixties, this speed then Heroin thing seems almost cyclic.

I haven’t seen homegrown meth in years- it’s almost all coming over the southern border or through the ports. Heroin, and in my area especially, pills, are more common these days due to lower cost.

[JediGuy]

Meth isn’t just for hillbillies. It was used for years by the wealthy, as I recall between WWII and at least Kennedy, who used himself.
I’ve always been far too straightlaced to have any clue how people even buy it, but I’ve watched it destroy people.
Meth kills the mind, heroin sets it free, and you eventually end up dead from one of them or alcohol.

Anyway, I’m curious what smart people think are possible solutions.

[TehLlama]

Based on the number of stolen bicycles and break-ins at trailheads, I'm guessing use hasn't decreased here at all.
I'm sure somebody in mexico has figured out a fully applied economy of scale preparation setup given that we haven't had as many arbitrary RV explosions, but it's there.

For my part, I just want to hang in there until asthma actually kicks my ass properly in a few decades

[Ruark]

Yep. The cartels roll it out in 55 gallon drums. Don't go near them, though. They'll do things to you that make ISIS look like a bunch of girl scouts.

[C-grunt]

Imported vs home grown is going to be based on location. Here in the southwest it's pretty much 100 percent smuggled in. The farther you get from the border the more likely you are going to see labs pop up. Smuggled in will always be the majority of it as the cartels are just pumping out huge quantities.

The new thing we are seeing here in Phoenix over the last couple years are the fentanyl pills. They are known as the "Mexican 30s", "Mexican blue", or "blue 30s". They are a fake Oxy pill but use fentanyl instead of the regular opioid used in actual RX pills. It's killing people left and right. But they are cheap, easy to transport, and get you super high.


Here in Phoenix meth is definitely still around but heroin and the fentanyl pills have taken over.

[ViniVidivici]

Use, nor production, have gone down, if anything, it's just not talked about as much.

See how that works?

And it's going to get worse, not better, with states like mine (WA) and OR decriminalizing in one way or another.

When you decriminalize hard, destructive drugs, but do NOT at the same time massively increase punishment for crimes associated with said drug, that throws things COMPLETELY off balance, and will fuel crime AND the drug use like nothing will.