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What if I told you that a 21st century form of the black plague was swarming across America? That it started on the West Coast and has steadily drifted across the Midwest. What if I said that it is now well established right here in the heart of Illinois' farming country? Would you be concerned? Would you try to protect your children? Would you try to help stop its spread?
It’s real. It’s here. It’s called methamphetamine. In 1998 and 1999 there were only about 80 to 90 meth labs in Central Illinois. In 2002 there were 666. Last year there were 1971, but as startling as that figure is, it is still deceptively low. These statistics represent only the meth labs actually found and reported by the Illinois State Police Methamphetamine Task Force.
Here in my home county, Douglas County, and in adjoining Moultrie County we have multi-jurisdictional police force cooperation to combat this growing problem. A combination of twelve counties and departments make up the East Central Illinois Drug Task Force. But there are many counties, including Piatt, Macon and Champaign, handling drug enforcement completely on their own; the labs in those counties go uncounted in our area total. To further diminish the validity of these numbers, it is believed that for every meth lab found, as many as five go undetected.
Methamphetamine is manufactured right at home, literally. The recipe is highly toxic and volatile. Most of the ingredients can be easily purchased in local stores. Two of the most sought after ingredients are ephedrine and anhydrous ammonia. These ingredients can be found in every grocery store and Wal-Mart in every farming community in central Illinois. You don’t have to be a scientist to make it, nor an addict to die from it.
Meth has brought to rural America all of the social ills of the large cities. It is turning some of our smallest communities, which once embodied the very picture of peaceful, bucolic life in the rural Midwest, into decaying, drug-infested towns. It is leaving good people who have lived and loved their little townships all their lives subject to toxic fumes and violent, armed drug addicts. It is stretching already-thin law-enforcement resources to the breaking point, and endangering the lives of those who we call upon to protect us from predation and other violent, criminal behaviors--- our police, fire and ambulance personnel.
This is predominantly a white, rural problem and the average user is between the ages of 23-53. Most meth users are adults old enough to work and raise a family, but instead their lives are consumed with making methamphetamine, neglecting their children and exposing them to toxic fumes and the danger of sudden, violent death in a fire or explosion.
The drug is being 'cooked' in homes, garages, sheds, motel rooms, barns and storage units. But it can also be made in the trunk or back seat of a moving vehicle, which exposes the entire community to a potentially combustible rolling laboratory.
Many, if not all, of the violent crimes and tragedies we now hear about in our local news are related to methamphetamine. Farms are vandalized and thousands of dollars of tools and equipment are stolen to finance meth production. Anhydrous tanks are often left leaking, costing farmers in lost product, and exposing the surrounding environment to caustic fumes.
Meth is not a money-driven drug, like cocaine or heroin, for example. Its ease-of-production means that it does not sell at a high price, so you won’t find meth dealers in schoolyards, college campuses or trendy clubs peddling their wares. Meth is an addict-driven drug. It is one of the most addictive drugs on the street. Meth is manufactured out of a desperate need for the drug itself. Addicts make enough money only to buy the ingredients for the next batch.
Maybe you're thinking, 'yeah well that’s life, and some people are just stupid'. Or maybe, you believe that all recreational drugs should be legal anyway. If that’s where you are, believe me, this drug is not the stuff you smoked in college or in your living room while watching TV. Those who play with meth seldom walk away with a chance to go on to lead a normal, productive life, but become trapped into a life that most often has but two endings--- prison, or death.
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