I came from Southern California, namely Los Angeles, and more specifically, The San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, when I was younger, was meth CENTRAL. Everyone drove from my hometown to SFV for meth or BTH, but mostly meth because it was so goddamn available. Since then, meth has become less available, but it's still around. The quality is always pretty good, and if you know the right people, excellent. Now a days in SFV, heroin seems to be more popular. Marijuana is available on nearly every corner. A medicinal card costs less than 50 dollars and only demands you are not on probation / in legal trouble. When I talk to people here about CA, they always ask me how the weed was, and for good reason. That shit will stick to a wall.
Now I'm in Arizona. Tucson has a huge meth and heroin problem, which is strange because the quality of these drugs down here is horrible. 200mg of meth in CA would keep me up all night and out of my mind, while 200mg down here would have me asleep in a few hours (slight exaggeration). The BTH I've used here reminded me of what I'd cop in downtown LA. Horrible headaches. Never again.
The crime here is pretty bad. I'd argue it is worse, per square capita, than LA. I blame the meth. I have not been to PHX, nor am I using ATM, but I heard their drugs are the bees knees.