Posted by azdrugrehabctr on January 9, 2017 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News | 
Methamphetamine is a drug that took the country by storm several years ago, but who’s popularity has appeared to be declining. Concerted efforts by law enforcement, state and federal governments and educators have reduced methamphetamine use throughout the country, but that is likely to change. The Mexican drug cartels have begun to set up super labs near the border and have started funneling in methamphetamine to towns all over the country.
When methamphetamine first made its presence known as an epidemic, the drug was mainly being produced in small labs in people’s homes or in remote locations. This is partly why the drug was so insidious, users could essentially make their own supply. Gathering ingredients that can easily be found around the home or purchased at a local hardware store, methamphetamine manufacturers began to distribute the drug to anyone looking for a high similar to cocaine.
In order to prevent at-home methamphetamine manufacturing, law makers quickly instituted laws on purchasing large amounts of certain ingredients vital for making meth. This, paired with an increased police presence, helped bring down the number of people addicted to the powerful drug.
However, while there is not as much methamphetamine being manufactured in the United States, the demand appears to have remained the same. In an attempt to capitalize on this, drug cartels have begun to manufacture the drug in extremely large quantities and smuggle methamphetamine into the United States where they have found a growing customer base with meth addiction back on the rise.
Perhaps what is most surprising about this new methamphetamine wave, is the destination of the smuggled drugs. Instead of going to places like New York, LA or Chicago, smugglers are focusing on states like Montana. The blue collar and seasonal workers that populate the area appear to be the targets of the cartel, and local law enforcement is struggling to keep up. “We’re just going to have to practice triage like an emergency room and take whatever happens to be the biggest problem at the time and deal with it. We’re just adding more and more issues here and no more resources at any level – treatment, prevention or law enforcement,” said Mark Long, chief of the state Department of Criminal Investigation Narcotics Bureau.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on September 16, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News, Synthetic Drugs |
When methamphetamine use began to take over the country it took a while for government agencies to implement restrictions on the chemicals needed to manufacture the dangerous drug. But, eventually, pharmacies throughout the country began requiring ID to purchase Sudafed, an important ingredient in making meth. Certain cleaning supplies, also part of the recipe, were also placed behind locked cabinets, deterring addicts from purchasing large quantities.
So, methamphetamine stopped being produced in large batches in the United States. But in order to satisfy the demands of the addicts, Mexican drug cartels began funding businesses in Mexico. These businesses started to manufacture and smuggle in all the ingredients needed to make methamphetamine. With cooperation from the Mexican government, officials were able to shut most of these facilities down. The coca plant is another item that requires chemical processing in order to turn it into a drug – cocaine. These restrictions by U.S. and Mexican officials have also impacted cocaine manufacturers.
Now that these restrictions have been in place for some times it can be determined how effective they were at curbing the methamphetamine problem in the United States. According to researchers at the University of Arizona, these restrictions helped lower the number of people addicted to cocaine and methamphetamine. Data shows a 35% decrease in methamphetamine use over the last year. Cocaine abuse has also dropped significantly, by 32%.
“Strategies directed toward individual users – information campaigns and direct medical care, for example – have not yet full addressed the public health problem of cocaine and methamphetamine misuse. Additional approaches are needed. Chemical controls are relatively inexpensive. And there’s room to improve them through better international cooperation,” explained Dr. James Cunninhgam, a social epidemiologist at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine.
When officials can cut off, or minimize the supply of illicit drugs it allows addicts to get the help they desperately need. When the drugs are harder to obtain it makes it easier for family and loved ones to encourage treatment. Treatment often becomes easier to accept when it is more difficult to obtain the drugs.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on January 30, 2016 under Addiction Trends, AZ Drug Rehab News |
Mothers who abuse methamphetamine while pregnant often give birth to babies who experience behavioral and emotional problems throughout life. Methamphetamine is a manmade drug that is often primarily comprised of chemicals found around the house. Methamphetamine provides a high that is more intense and longer lasting than cocaine, which could explain why addicts who become pregnant have a difficult time abstaining.
According to researchers, almost 25% of pregnant women who seek treatment at state-run drug programs are abusing methamphetamine. While it has been made clear to the public that abusing drugs while pregnant is dangerous to the baby and oftentimes harms the child for the rest of their life, addicts are still putting their unborn child at risk by the continued exposure to drugs such as this. In order to help children who were born with methamphetamine already in their system, researchers have sought out more effective treatments to behavioral and emotional problems that are common among them.
“In the first study of its kind, we followed children, who experienced prenatal methamphetamine exposure, up to the age of 7.5 years and found that adversities, such as poverty and continued drug abuse by a parent, contributed to behavioral and emotional control issues. While additional study is needed, these findings indicate that providing a supportive home life for children with prenatal methamphetamine exposure would reduce their behavioral and emotional control issues,” explained Lynne M. Smith, one of the authors of the study.
While it may not come as a surprise to many that children benefit from stable home environments, it does underscore the importance of educating mothers when it comes to providing the best life for their children. Mothers who have abused methamphetamine while pregnant may feel hopeless when it comes to making it up to the child. However, focusing on providing a stable, secure environment for these children will greatly reduce the behavioral and emotional problems caused by early exposure to the drug.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on November 15, 2015 under AZ Drug Rehab News |
One of the main functions of border patrol is to prevent the entry of illegal drugs into Arizona and other border states. This has never been as important as it is now that it has become exceedingly difficult to manufacture drugs like methamphetamine in the United States. Due to changes in laws around the sale of methamphetamine precursors, drug cartels in Mexico have stepped up their production to supply American addicts with the drugs they demand. An illustration of this is the amount of drugs that have been seized at the border. Officials report that heroin and methamphetamine seizures in Arizona have increased by 300%.
In order to come up with this statistic, the Drug Enforcement Administration tabulated information from reported seizures, arrests, investigations and drug enforcement surveys. This is an important number for two reasons. The first reason is that it shows how sophisticated border patrol has become over the years. In order to thwart the drug cartels from getting drugs into the United States, border patrol has to be ready for anything. By implementing drug dogs, technology and intense education, border control has been able to penetrate the drug cartel’s relentless invasion of illegal drugs across the border.
Another reason why this release of information from the DEA is important is because it shows just how many substances are coming into the country. An increase of 300% in seized drugs highlights the demand that United States citizens place on drug dealers and drug providers. While many people are becoming better informed about the dangers and risks associated with various drugs that are commonly abused, there still appears to be a growing demand. To underscore this point, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that in 2013 there were 2.8 million Americans who tried drugs for the first time. Most of these Americans were teenagers.
As long as border control continues to seize drugs out of the cartel’s hands they can help keep some drugs out of the hands of waiting Americans. However, this is certainly not the answer to the overall problem. While it can play a part as a form of intervention on our nation’s drug problem, the most effective ways to address the issue is with successful treatment and prevention.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on February 28, 2015 under Addiction Trends |
Typically, many incidents involving the drug cartels occur near the Mexican border, however law enforcement has been seeing a dangerous new trend. Drug cartels are moving into other states and taking the violence with them. Washington State is one of the areas that has seen an increase in drug cartel activity. Public officials warn that the violence will continue and the drug cartels will also continue to move throughout the nation as long as the demand for drugs remains high.
“For this area it’s sort of just unbelievable,” explained a resident wholives in a quiet West Washington suburb. Police and the DEA worked together to arrest Cristian Berrelleza Verduzco for his part in a black ice ring. Black ice is a form of methamphetamine and has gained quite a following in the northwestern states. The DEA became aware of Verduzco while they were investigating the Beltran Leyva cartel. The cartel is well known for their sale and distribution of methamphetamine, heroin and illegal fire arms.
The DEA was surprised to learn that one of the top sellers in the cartel was living in a quiet suburb in Washington State. Instead of typical drug-dealing behavior like people coming to the house at odd hours, lots of different cars in front of the house and violence and arguing in public, Verduzco kept a low profile. “There was no drug trafficking, no big parties or anything like that so they were being pretty discrete about what they were doing,” explained the neighbor.
Hiding in plain sight seems to have worked for a bit. The DEA reports that Verduzco lived in the location for years and never aroused suspicion. However, the DEA has been aware that Washington State is a common place for drug cartel members to live. An agent from the DEA explained that around 80 percent of the incidents that are investigated have ties to the drug cartels in Mexico. One reason for this incredible number is that Interstate 5 seems to be a major route of transportation for illegal drugs that come in through Arizona and Texas.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on January 13, 2015 under AZ Drug Rehab News |
Border Patrol Agents working near the state line in Arizona were busy in 2014. The law enforcement agents spent their days policing the border and ensuring that illegal drugs like marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine did not get into the country. Public officials have known for a long time that most of the drugs consumed in the U.S. originate in Mexico and other South American countries and have set up agents all along U.S. borders to prevent as much drugs from getting into the hands of U.S. citizens as possible. By the end of the year, the border control agents had seized more drugs at the Arizona state line than in any other year prior.
Marijuana is one of the most popular drugs that the drug cartels attempt to smuggle into the country. In 2014 border patrol was ready, and seized more than 2,183 pounds of marijuana. When officials divided the pot up in dosages (the amount an average user would consume) it was found that the marijuana that was seized equaled almost one million dosages.
“I think it’s important to note how many dosages this involves. When you see how many doses, you get an idea of how many people would have been using these drugs,” explained Randy Moffit, a lieutenant in Arizona. While it is unclear how much marijuana actually made it into the country, officials can say that the amount of weed that was seized this year added up to a street value of almost $4 million dollars. Agents were pleased to announce that they seized more than twice the amount that was intercepted in 2013.
In addition to marijuana, agents seized heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. In Arizona alone, fourteen pounds of heroin was taken before it could hit the streets and be dispersed to other states in the country. In the past, methamphetamine was manufactured in the United States, however 2014 saw much of the drug being made in Mexico and smuggled into the U.S. Agents were able to prevent 177 pounds of the drug from making it to users, this is more than four times the amount that was seized in 2013.
Preventing illegal drugs from coming into the country is a vital part of Arizona border patrol agents jobs, and in 2014 they managed to exceed almost all numbers from the previous year.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on December 29, 2014 under Addiction Trends |
Suicide is a social problem that is often the end result of a drug addiction. Stimulants are drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine and Adderall. Stimulants are a commonly abused class of drug that researchers have found can be a major catalyst for suicide attempts and suicides. While those suffering from a drug addiction are more likely to think about, attempt and follow through with suicide, this new information isolates stimulants as the most abused drug when it comes to those who are suicidal.
Stimulants provide a different kind of high than opiates like heroin or prescription drugs like Oxycontin. People who ingesting stimulants are often very impulsive and much more susceptible to drastic mood changes, especially after the high has worn off and major depression sets int. These behaviors are what researchers think is the reason why suicide among stimulant addicts is so high.
“Our study addresses a number of important issues that could change practice. While it confirms that drug use itself represents a significant risk for suicidal behavior, it identifies cocaine and amphetamine users as a higher-risk population,” explained one of the researchers. Interestingly enough, an early use for amphetamines included kamikaze pilots – to give them the courage to kill themselves in battle.
While all drugs can be harmful, people who are addicted to cocaine or methamphetamine can lead a particularly lonely life. Since the effects of the drugs wear off so fast, the user is in a constant cycle of craving the drug, oftentimes going to great lengths to obtain the drug, being high and then back to craving the drug again. This cycle leaves little time for anything else in the addict’s life. Family and friends are quickly out of the picture when it comes to battling this type of heavy addiction.
For people who are abusing large amounts of stimulants, paranoia is also a likely side effect. Sometimes the paranoia can be so great that the addict has to completely remove themselves from society because of the distrust and panic that sets in after continual usage.
Researchers are hoping that this information will lead to more specialized treatment for cocaine and methamphetamine addicts. Currently there are very few treatment facilities that specialize in these types of addictions.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on September 24, 2014 under AZ Drug Rehab News |
In August, $1.6 million worth of drugs were seized within just a week at the Arizona-Mexico border. Law enforcement recently stepped up their drug-searching methods, a move which has been paying off handsomely. Once the drugs were seized, the suspects were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations for further questioning. Drug-sniffing dogs were paramount to the cause.
In one seizure of many this week, officers working with drug dogs searched a woman’s car shortly after attempting to cross over from Mexico. They found 20 packages of marijuana under her floor weighing nearly 139 pounds. The drugs had a street value of $69,000.
During another incident, officers arrested an elderly man attempting to smuggle in 14 pounds of methamphetamine. After officers took a closer look at the vehicle where drug dogs had indicated, they found the meth, which had been hidden in a secret compartment between the two front seats. Later that day at the same checkpoint, officers found 22 pounds of cocaine hidden behind another vehicle’s airbag.
During a single week, seizures at the border added up to around $1.6 million. For border control, the battle against drug smuggling is a constant game of cat and mouse. Drug traffickers are always looking for different ways to smuggle the drugs into the country and border control is challenged to stay one step ahead if they want to succeed in controlling the border.
At the end of the week, officers had confiscated drugs hidden in several different places: above a vehicle’s front fender, hidden compartments between seats and behind airbags, inside car seats, inside a vehicle’s doors, under the floor of a vehicle, in suitcases, under a truck bed, and in the crotch area of a woman’s pants.
With the high demand for drugs in our country, it is unlikely that drug smugglers will stop trying to get drugs into our country anytime soon. If we, as a nation, can get to the root of the problem and lower the demand for drugs, perhaps we can make more headway in the fight for the border.
Posted by azdrugrehabctr on February 13, 2014 under Addiction Trends |
While the overall total of methamphetamine users in the United States is still lower than it was several years ago, recent trafficking information indicates it is on the rise again. A U.S. Attorney in the Southern California area just charged nearly 50 people with trafficking after a year-long investigation. She claimed they prosecuted more than 900 meth cases last year.
The staggering number for just that one area is indicative of the amount of meth being brought into the U.S. from Mexico since laws reduced local small-labs around the country. Total cases are up more than six times from the number just five years ago.
Additionally, officials say that over 12,000 pounds of meth were seized last year crossing into California from Mexico, which is double the amount from just two years earlier. The methamphetamine from this latest investigation was found to be sold from San Diego to as far away as Minnesota.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Southwest Border Initiative (SWBI) has been operating for 20 years. It combines resources and efforts from multiple law enforcement agencies to combat the drug trafficking groups that bring in very large amounts of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States from Mexico. While efforts to reduce the supply may not be completely done in vain, many experts and people throughout the country would prefer to have more funding diverted from drug war operations into drug prevention and treatment programs.
