August 21, 2006: On the evening news, I watched DEA officials in Atlanta beaming with delight as they listed the bust of the day. Granted, 187 pounds of crystal meth and 41 kilos of cocaine is definitely a large bust for the agency, and I suppose it is a cause for celebration. But this story meant something different to me. My predictions that the methamphetamine epidemic would ultimately raze the East Coast seemed to be coming true.
And the telltale signs that the drugs are now coming from south of the border are obvious. One, the purity of the crystal meth shows that it was manufactured in a tightly controlled lab, as opposed to a rundown trailer park on the outskirts of Boise, Idaho. And two, there was that large quantity of cocaine, which, if I am not mistaken, is dependent on the coca plant for manufacture and generally comes to the US from Central and South America.
As the controls on precursor chemicals like ephedrine and pseudoephedrine get tighter and tighter, do find ourselves marginally safer from the dangerous effects of clandestine meth labs throughout the country. According to DEA statistics, between 2002 and 2004 the number of clandestine labs fell by 45%.
This does not, however, indicate that meth use is declining. Like so many industries in the United States, the jobs are being exported to third-world countries. In this case, the methamphetamine manufacturing jobs are being exported to Mexico, where the precursor chemicals are more readily available, the government is more willing to “look the other way,” and the supply lines for smuggled cocaine provide an efficient pipeline for getting the methamphetamine to distributors and end users in the United States.
As more large methamphetamine busts occur along the East Coast, the press will again begin talking about the methamphetamine epidemic and what a scourge the epidemic is in America. Hopefully, my fear of a large-scale methamphetamine explosion and/or fire in New York, DC, or Chicago will not come true, thanks to the outsourcing of the meth manufacturing jobs to Mexico. But only time will tell.