Hey meth heads watch out..............

[Goapics1]

the feds are coming.

Meth is top drug problem for most counties

Survey shows it's heading east after taking root along West Coast


MSNBC
Updated: 11:46 a.m. ET July 5, 2005

The number one drug problem for many counties across the country is not cocaine, heroin or marijuana but methamphetamine, according to a survey released Tuesday.

A synthetic drug that's easily manufactured, meth has spread from the West Coast and is moving east, according to the survey by the National Association of Counties.

Of 500 law enforcement agencies surveyed in 45 states, 58 percent cited meth as their biggest drug problem, dwarfing cocaine (19 percent), marijuana (17 percent) and heroin (3 percent).

The highest meth percentages were along the West Coast and Upper Midwest. In the Northeast, on the other hand, only 4 percent of counties rated meth as their biggest drug problem. Forty-six percent cited heroin as the top problem, followed by cocaine at 21 percent.

A form of speed that is usually smoked, snorted or injected, meth quickly becomes addictive.

87 percent of agencies report increases in meth-related arrests starting three years ago. Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming reported 100 percent increases.70 percent say robberies or burglaries have increased because of meth use.62 percent report increases in domestic violence because of meth use.In a report with the survey results, the association described the spread as an "epidemic ... affecting urban, suburban and rural communities nationwide."

The federal government still considers marijuana the top drug problem in the nation, citing a 2003 survey estimating 15 million people who had smoked marijuana over the last month, compared with 600,000 meth users over the previous month.

The counties association, however, said that "county law enforcement officials have a different perspective on this ranking. With the growth of this drug from the rural areas of the western and northwestern regions of this country and its slow but continuing spread to the east, local law enforcement officials see it as their number one drug problem."

Small and large labs
Meth is imported from Mexico, Canada and Asia, the association said, as well as produced in small or large labs across the United States using household ingredients like cold medicines and fertilizer.

"The small lab methamphetamine production and market was originally dominated by motorcycle gangs and local producers chiefly in California and the Pacific northwest," the association said, "but has grown now to include major producers in Mexico who are responsible for the organized trafficking of meth and by the thousands of small producers in nearly all areas of the country."

"Meth can be manufactured in barns, garages, back rooms of businesses, apartments, hotel and motel rooms, storage facilities, vacant buildings and vehicles," the association said — and even a suitcase.

The full report is online at www.naco.org.

[Skip Towne]

Originally Posted by Hydrae

I did meth in the northwest for a couple of years in the late 80's. Talk about how everywhere is considered the capital of meth, I was told that it was first concocted at the chemistry department at U of O in Eugene, Or. Having driven from Portland down to Springfield (across I-5 from Eugene), I can believe it.

Meth is an insidious drug that will catch you unaware. I loved the stuff and it was screwing me in more ways than I realized. Then I left the area, had no contacts and was able to dry out. One of the best things to happen to me.

If meth was invented at U of O it must have been a long time ago. Hitler was giving it to his troops in the '30's.

[MOhillbilly]

Originally Posted by Skip Towne

If meth was invented at U of O it must have been a long time ago. Hitler was giving it to his troops in the '30's.

id like to see proof.

[the Talking Can]

Luckily there is no meth in Kansas.

[dollar1]

Even here, in lil' Hiawatha KS pop 4,000, there is a meth bust every other week.

I moved to a small town from KC just to avoid this kind of crap. I think meth producers like rural areas because they can cook in the barn far away from anybody to witness.

That's about all I have to contribute

~Back Under Rock~

[Brock]

Originally Posted by MOhillbilly

id like to see proof.

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/inte...354606,00.html

[Iowanian]

yeah Right....Sure thing Brock. Next you'll try to tell us that the Nazi's exterminated a few million People...

[HemiEd]

"I want a new drug, one that won't make me feel three feet thick."

[MOhillbilly]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

yeah Right....Sure thing Brock. Next you'll try to tell us that the Nazi's exterminated a few million People...

n the catliks didnt help........

[JimNasium]

On a related note. Here's the editorial from today's Springfield News-Leader.

#################

Published July 6, 2005

Innocent have something to fear

Let's dump "suspicious until proven innocent."

Whenever civil libertarians object to rules or laws that let government intrude into personal privacy in the name of security, the laws' defenders have a quick response. If you're not doing anything illegal, you have nothing to fear.

Tell it to Elizabeth McLinn.

McLinn is the Bolivar woman who bought two boxes of cold medicine. A Wal-Mart employee thought she'd been buying too much pseudoephedrine, so he called the cops on her.

When they pulled her over, she had nearly two more boxes in her car, plus (gasp) rock salt, rubbing alcohol and potting soil. The next day she was charged with possession of precursor ingredients with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, a felony. She spent the weekend in jail before a relative arranged to bail her out.

Two months later, a court dismissed the case when it became quite clear she has severe allergies, a big garden (the potting soil), spends a lot of time outdoors (rubbing alcohol for bug bites) and prepares for winter (the rock salt).

She did nothing illegal, but she has paid with lost time, lost money and the humiliation of being tossed in jail — and having to acknowledge the arrest and charge on applications for teaching jobs.

Meth is an epidemic. Lawmakers and law enforcement are right to focus their attention on it. But when laws presume guilt from the possession of common, legal products, there should be a greater onus on law enforcement to make sure there is actual criminal intent.

Failure to do that makes victims of the innocent — which should be inexcusable no matter how noble the cause. American justice was established on the premise that it is better to free 100 guilty people than to imprison one innocent person.

The current trend in American law, unfortunately, goes the other way.

High schools, with the blessing of the U.S. Supreme Court, require students in any extracurricular activity to submit to random drug tests. The teens are essentially considered guilty until proven innocent.

The Patriot Act allows the FBI, on the lightest of suspicion, to track any citizen's reading and Internet habits. It opens the way to spying on citizens.

The Transportation Security Administration compiles databases of "suspicious" travelers that forces people with the wrong name to endure extra searches and questioning — and sometimes keeps them off their flights.

But if you've done nothing illegal, you have nothing to fear, the refrain comes back. Security requires a few sacrifices.

Tell that to Elizabeth McLinn.

The founders added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution to put a check on government — and to make personal liberty more important than communal security. The founders knew where a road paved in good intentions leads.

That road throws people like Elizabeth McLinn in jail for the weekend when they have done nothing illegal. It is a road we need to get off of.

[|Zach|]

Jeez, thats crazy.

[Skip Towne]

Originally Posted by JimNasium

On a related note. Here's the editorial from today's Springfield News-Leader.

#################

Published July 6, 2005

Innocent have something to fear

Let's dump "suspicious until proven innocent."

Whenever civil libertarians object to rules or laws that let government intrude into personal privacy in the name of security, the laws' defenders have a quick response. If you're not doing anything illegal, you have nothing to fear.

Tell it to Elizabeth McLinn.

McLinn is the Bolivar woman who bought two boxes of cold medicine. A Wal-Mart employee thought she'd been buying too much pseudoephedrine, so he called the cops on her.

When they pulled her over, she had nearly two more boxes in her car, plus (gasp) rock salt, rubbing alcohol and potting soil. The next day she was charged with possession of precursor ingredients with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, a felony. She spent the weekend in jail before a relative arranged to bail her out.

Two months later, a court dismissed the case when it became quite clear she has severe allergies, a big garden (the potting soil), spends a lot of time outdoors (rubbing alcohol for bug bites) and prepares for winter (the rock salt).

She did nothing illegal, but she has paid with lost time, lost money and the humiliation of being tossed in jail — and having to acknowledge the arrest and charge on applications for teaching jobs.

Meth is an epidemic. Lawmakers and law enforcement are right to focus their attention on it. But when laws presume guilt from the possession of common, legal products, there should be a greater onus on law enforcement to make sure there is actual criminal intent.

Failure to do that makes victims of the innocent — which should be inexcusable no matter how noble the cause. American justice was established on the premise that it is better to free 100 guilty people than to imprison one innocent person.

The current trend in American law, unfortunately, goes the other way.

High schools, with the blessing of the U.S. Supreme Court, require students in any extracurricular activity to submit to random drug tests. The teens are essentially considered guilty until proven innocent.

The Patriot Act allows the FBI, on the lightest of suspicion, to track any citizen's reading and Internet habits. It opens the way to spying on citizens.

The Transportation Security Administration compiles databases of "suspicious" travelers that forces people with the wrong name to endure extra searches and questioning — and sometimes keeps them off their flights.

But if you've done nothing illegal, you have nothing to fear, the refrain comes back. Security requires a few sacrifices.

Tell that to Elizabeth McLinn.

The founders added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution to put a check on government — and to make personal liberty more important than communal security. The founders knew where a road paved in good intentions leads.

That road throws people like Elizabeth McLinn in jail for the weekend when they have done nothing illegal. It is a road we need to get off of.

Rep to you

[Radar Chief]

Originally Posted by Skip Towne

Hogwash! Everyone ends up dead.

“On a long enough timeline, everyone’s survival rate drops to zero.” Jack

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by dollar1

Even here, in lil' Hiawatha KS pop 4,000,

Hehe, is the Maple Leaf Restaurant still there?

[Kerberos]

Originally Posted by dollar1

Even here, in lil' Hiawatha KS pop 4,000, there is a meth bust every other week.

I moved to a small town from KC just to avoid this kind of crap. I think meth producers like rural areas because they can cook in the barn far away from anybody to witness.

That's about all I have to contribute

~Back Under Rock~

There are some old missle silos near Wamego KS where the feds found an abandon operation inside one of them that they say had enough glassware and ingredient containers that they were pretty sure was capable of producing 800Million doses of ACID/LSD


http://www.freepickard.org/wamegotim...s04_03_03.html

Meth has always been a problem in and around that area .... lots of busts!

Wamego is population of under 4K if I am not mistaken ... and I could be.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by rxrider

There are some old missle silos near Wamego KS where the feds found an abandon operation inside one of them that they say had enough glassware and ingredient containers that they were pretty sure was capable of producing 800Million doses of ACID/LSD


http://www.freepickard.org/wamegotim...s04_03_03.html

Meth has always been a problem in and around that area .... lots of busts!

Wamego is population of under 4K if I am not mistaken ... and I could be.

That bust pretty much KO'd the LSD scene for quite a while if I remember correctly. The stuff used to be everywhere around here, but after that bust it was pretty hard to find (I have lots of hippy friends). Evidently that lab was singlehandedly suppplying the majority of the LSD in the nation.