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    Missouri Tops Nation’s Meth Busts in 2011

    By William Browning | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Thu, Feb 23, 2012
    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
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    The Associated Press reports Missouri is once again the methamphetamine capital of the world. Statistics compiled by the news agency show meth lab seizures rose in 2011. Federal data show meth lab seizures to be near the same totals over the past two years. But when compared to adding each state's total, meth lab busts rose 8.3 percent from numbers in 2010.

    Here's how Missouri got to the top spot on this infamous list.

    * Missouri had 2,096 meth lab seizures in 2011. The Show-Me State was the only one with over 2,000 meth lab busts. The next closest state was Tennessee with 1,687. Missouri had over 400 more meth lab seizures than its closest competition. Indiana was third with 1,437 while Kentucky was fourth with 1,188 and Oklahoma was fifth with 902 seizures. Three of the remaining four states in the top five border Missouri.

    * Missouri led the nation in meth lab busts from 2003 to 2009 before Tennessee was the top state in 2010. NPR states Missouri had 1,950 meth labs dismantled by authorities in 2010. Tennessee had over 2,000.

    * Jefferson County led the state with 253 meth busts in 2011. That was more than Texas, Florida and California combined with 219 total meth seizures.

    * The rise in meth statistics has been attributed to new methods for cooking the drug. Makers and sellers of meth can now use a "shake and bake" method to cook the substance in a two-liter bottle. Another rise is because Missouri and Tennessee are specifically taking steps to control the meth problem, so there are more seizures of equipment.

    * T he city of St. Louis saw a sharp increase in meth lab busts, according to t he St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis had 24 labs raided in 2011, versus just four in 2010. City police have already seized eight labs in 2012 and the year is barely two months old.

    * Statistics could be worse. An electronic system for tracking consumer purchases of psuedoephedrine blocked 49,000 people from exceeding their yearly limit. The rise in St. Louis labs may also be attributed to counties in the southeastern part of the state that require a prescription to buy the medication.

    * Had Tennessee not lost federal funding to fight meth, the state quite possibly could have had over 2,300 meth busts. That would have led the nation and eclipsed Missouri's mark.

    * Most of the top 10 states in meth busts were in the Midwest. Illinois was sixth, Iowa seventh and Michigan was eighth.

    William Browning, a lifelong Missouri resident, writes about local and state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Born in St. Louis, Browning earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Missouri. He currently resides in Branson.

     

    2 comments

    • Dan S
      Dan S  •  3 mths ago
      Meth capital or do you mean the meth bust capital? Before throwing that label out did the writer even consider that maybe Missouri is just doing a better job of finding and busting these meth labs than many other states? Hell, California, Texas and New York could have a helluva lot more meth labs and users but if they don't focus on finding them, then they don't have to worry about this kind of negative spin for a positive result.
      • Medic
        Medic 3 mths ago
        Definitely meth capital. I felt MUCH less safe in much of MO than I ever did in the scariest parts of Los Angeles.
    • nxnne
      nxnne  •  3 mths ago
      the crew....meth, fox, republicanism, GOP primary voters, child molesters, child sodomizers, limbaugh, hannity, beck, bachmann, pedophiles, pedophilia, masterbation to kiddie porn...meth
     Post a comment
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