Methamphetamine Quality Down In Utah

[Tchort]

5/24/2009

Salt Lake Tribune

Nate Carlisle

Methamphetamine in Utah just isn't like the old days.

The quality of the drug has declined and the price has increased, according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in the state. In some cases, the drug is so poor, agents have a hard time making a criminal case against the seller.

"It's more difficult to find methamphetamine in Utah right now than it's ever been," said Frank Smith, the assistant special agent in charge of the DEA in Salt Lake City.

Agents are finding meth that is as little as 30 percent pure, costing $1,400 to $1,800 an ounce, Smith said. In 2005, the DEA and local police complained meth was routinely 90 percent pure and the price about $1,000 an ounce.

Smith credits crackdowns at home and abroad for the change. But while the DEA may view the purity and money changes as a success, some like Jenny Riggs also warn the change could lead to more of other types of crime.

Consuming meth that is less pure can mean less intense highs or that someone needs to consume more meth to reach the desired effect. Lower quality meth forces addicts to steal and rob people to buy more drugs and keep their highs, said Riggs, who became addicted to meth at age 18.

"They're just committing more crimes to look for the best product," she said in a telephone interview from the Utah State Prison.

Riggs, 30, was convicted of forgery in 2008. She was forging checks to obtain money for meth, she says.

She will leave the state prison in September and begin serving a 38-month federal sentence for forgery in a federal prison in Dublin, Calif.

The lower quality has made it harder for federal agents to prosecute some sellers, Smith said. Federal law enforcement uses a formula to determine whether to prosecute methamphetamine cases. The lower quality the meth, the more agents need to confiscate or buy from a dealer.

Smith said that lately,» undercover agents have been buying more meth from certain dealers to meet the thresholds and charge the dealers with crimes. State prosecutions don't have the same restrictions.

Limits on the amount of pseudoephedrine, a cold medication and a major meth ingredient, that a person can purchase have curbed Utah's home-grown meth supply, said Smith. But although the Mexican government has also pursued drug cartels in that country, reducing the amount of meth flowing into the United States, the drug usually still has high purity when it's shipped from Mexico.

When it arrives to distribution points, Smith said, dealers will use additives to cut the drug, or increase the volume so there's more to sell.

"Their intent is to increase their profit margin," he said.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12437601

 

[drug_mentor]

Again the DEA claims reduced purity and increased price as a success. I am glad this article at least included the opinion of that former meth addict who spoke some sense on the issue. It baffles me how they continue to use criteria like these as a bench mark for success.

 

[Utah_4_life]

Im from Utah, I live in the eastern part. There are a lot of meth labs that get busted every year in my small town. There are only about 500 people that live in it and last year 4 meth labs were busted. The doctors are also stupid as fuck. They are giving out percocet like its damn candy..

 

[Tchort]

Well, the old benchmarks for success in the days of the Narcotics Bureau of the Treasury Department were simply the number of arrests. Then in the Reagan era it was total weight of drugs seized during periods of time. Now its the price and purity of drugs on the street.

The problem is their goal is flawed from the start. It's fatalism. They have admitted that the war on drugs is unending and unwinnable; right now they are just trying to justify the money they continue to demand from state, local and Federal government authorities.

The homegrown Methamphetamine lab epidemic starting in the 1960's is purely a creation of the drug war that started in the Woodrow Wilson administration.

Speed culture and the damage its done domestically is at the feet of the Federal government. It's their baby.