Methamphetamine use is down, but it continues to plague rural areas

Even though the use of methamphetamine has decreased nationwide, many rural areas continue to grapple with it, and police departments are losing resources they say are necessary to fight the problem. Meth use appears to be most severe in Missouri, where 1,744  meth labs were found in 2010, reports Judy Keen of USA Today. Rounding out the top 10 states were Kentucky, Indiana, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, North Carolina, Iowa, Mississippi and Arkansas. (USA Today photo: An ephedrine test is conducted to determine if the substance in the dish is meth.)

Keen writes, "Meth continues to plague communities across the nation despite getting scant attention, says UCLA psychiatry professor Richard Rawson. 'You'd think there's no meth problem, he says, but in many economically depressed rural areas it's still used 'to cope with … difficulty and poverty.'"

Two states now require a prescription for pseudoephedrine, a key meth ingredient found in cold medication. Oregon and Mississippi report big decreases in meth lab seizures since the laws passed there. Law enforcement officials told Keen meth labs are hard to find because the drug is manufactured by individuals and isn't large-scale. There's also a network of people who buy pseudoephedrine to sell to meth "cookers," thwarting electronic tracking of buyers, and cookers now make meth in easily transportable two-liter bottles. (Read more)