Step aside alcohol, tobacco and marijuana -- methamphetamine abuse has emerged as the nation's leading drug problem.\nAlthough the White House reiterated its stance last month that marijuana remains the nation's most substantial narcotic threat, the National Association of Counties declared July 5 that the manufacturing, trafficking and abuse of "meth" is the most serious drug problem within communities of at least 45 states after they conducted a survey of 500 sheriff's departments. Meth-related arrests have packed American jails and swamped other county-level agencies that deal with children and toxics from meth environments.\nWhile most in law enforcement recognize marijuana as a problem, those costs are far outweighed by those from jailing inmates on meth charges, cleaning up makeshift labs and caring for children left behind when addicted parents are sent to prison or treatment, Vigo County, Ind., Sheriff Jon Marvel said.\nMeth is infecting the Midwest at a higher rate than other regions throughout the U.S. -- Missouri law enforcement officers seized a national high of more than 2,700 meth labs in 2004. Indiana is among 17 states that reported a doubling of meth arrests during the last five years, and five other states have witnessed severe three year increases.\n"It ain't just in Kansas anymore," Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) said. "The whole country is screaming. The entire nation is yelling. At what point does Washington respond?"
HOOSIER EPIDEMIC\nMeth -- also known throughout Southern Indiana as "bathtub crack" -- is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, as described by Indiana's Meth Watch program. Meth use can cause dependence and addiction psychosis, stroke, dangerously high body temperature and cardiac arrhythmia. Withdrawal often results in severe depression and paranoia. \n"The children are being raised, I can't say raised: they are occupants of a toxic dump, they suffer from a lack of nutrition, they are from single family homes, the only parent interest is not food for the child but the next hit of meth. They have health issues and suffer from malnutrition," said 1st Sgt. David Bursten, media service officer for the Indiana State Police. "Children become impaired by toxic chemicals. That impairment can be temporary or permanent. There have been no long-term studies of meth and cancer rates."\nMeth invaded the Hoosier heartland from Missouri in the early-1990s, at which point, Bursten said, Indiana jails began to swell with meth-related offenders and Hoosier cities began to feel the financial crunch of meth-related social welfare needs, like what to do with all the children taken from meth homes. \nIndiana State Police and other law enforcement agencies exposed and dismantled one or more clandestine meth laboratories in at least 87 of the state's 92 counties. Monroe County uncovered the first local meth lab in 1994, and statewide law enforcement agents dismantled 16 meth labs between 2003 and 2004 -- the highest number since 10 meth labs were disrupted in 1998, according to the Indiana State Police. \n"A meth lab is any location that is being used for the illegal production of methamphetamine. It could be a barn, apartment, hotel room or the back of a car," Bursten said. "The biggest issues are the clean-up of meth labs and that meth is a very highly addictive drug. Children of meth users aren't cared for and they are subjected to all the fumes and intoxicants ... For a child that's normal, it perpetuates a cycle. A child around illegal drug use often becomes an illegal drug user."
NATIONAL SCOURGE\nMarijuana abuse might seem the ideal target for the nation's "War on Drugs" because about 100 million Americans ages 12 and older have reported ingesting the illegal and otherwise medicinal drug at least once during their lifetimes, according to the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Abuse of addictive drugs like alcohol, nicotine and other narcotics like opiates, however, continue to cost the country billions of dollars in lost productivity and health care to treat the negative side effects of ingestion and abuse -- not to mention the community damage done by methamphetamine use. \nMore than 12 million Americans ages 12 and older reported trying meth at least once -- representing about one out of every five, according to the NSDUH. The taxpayer and neighborhood costs associated with meth use, on the other hand, are often reflected in swollen social welfare payments, overused social service agencies and intoxicated children living in meth laboratories acting as home.\n"We know there is a rise in the amount of people using meth in terms of abuse and dependence. There are some treatments but it may take longer because there are some harmful effects to the brain that take a lot longer to recover than the average addict," said John Viernes, director of the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction. "This is not a case where (the meth abuser) can't recover. We have to keep them in treatment longer so their brain can heal."\nMeth is highly addictive and users trying to abstain from use might suffer withdrawal symptoms that include depression, anxiety, fatigue, aggression and intense cravings for the drug, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Chronic meth use can cause violent behavior, anxiety, confusion and insomnia -- users can also exhibit psychotic behavior including hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions and paranoia possibly resulting in homicidal or suicidal thoughts.\nBursten said a batch of meth often includes, among other chemicals, automobile starter fluid, iodine, lithium batteries, drain cleaner, rubbing alcohol, matchbooks, engine additives, coffee filters to strain the substance, propane tanks to store the mix and over-the-counter medication containing pseudoephedrine or ephedrine.\n"The byproducts actually result in toxic waste which is left behind in the meth lab. Some people rent a hotel room, mix up the meth, check out and leave all the toxic waste behind," he said. "In rural areas people cook it in a trailer or they cook it up in their home and pour the byproduct down the drain into their septic tank or the city sewer system."
WAR ON METH\nAfter a four-decade American "War on Drugs" that has resulted in the decreased drug abuse of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana among the youth population, teenagers continue to experiment with meth and other dangerous drugs like inhalants, depressants and steroids continue to threaten the nation's youthful health and well-being. \nViernes said approximately 1,500 Hoosiers entered into treatment for meth addictions thus far in 2005, compared with 1,000 in 2003 and 500 in 2000 -- a more than 300 percent increase for Indiana.\n"Since 2001 we have had an increase in the number of people entering treatment for meth abuse -- the largest number of people are between 21 and 44 years old. People also enter treatment for opiates like heroin and cocaine and narcotics like OxyContin and Vicodin," he said. "Alcohol and marijuana treatment is a rising trend, but the steepest slope of increased admissions is for meth, heroin and other opiates."\nBursten said some meth addicts abuse the drug because they are curious about the process, they are seeking monetary gains or because they are addicted. He said a typical meth user crosses all socioeconomic lines and stereotypes, often resembling the "friend next door."\n"The hope would be that treatment programs take root and break the cycle so people who are addicted to meth can get treatment," Bursten said. "Drug abuse in this country didn't happen overnight or during the 1960s. Substance abuse dates back to pre-Civil War days. There has always been substance abusers addicted to substances, that is a fact of life. The hope is to keep them as an insignificant minority instead of a large population of people."\nViernes said Americans need to take a look at the overall effect on a community drug abuse has before claims are made about the national priorities governing the drug war. He said all substance abuse issues have to deal with the preventable side as well as treatment, with a special focus toward rehabilitating a person who is relapsing -- a natural step in the cessation process. \n"There is never enough dollars in the system to serve every substance abuser, but we can work on the places where people can get treatment. There should be insurance coverage for addiction illnesses equal to mental health issues, and we need more workforce development to train people about addiction illness," Viernes said. "One of the things we often find is the misperception or wrong perception of a drug addiction as a weakness in character. Substance abuse is an illness -- treatment works." \nThe Associated Press contributed to this story.
