DeSantis leaves out context in claim about meth and the southern border

The DEA’s 2020 Drug Threat Assessment also cited China and India as sources for precursors, but counterdrug officials contacted by InSight Crime said the chemicals were coming from many other places as well, including Germany. These days, the United States is consistently seizing more methamphetamine along its southwest border with Mexico than any other drug except for marijuana, which is moved in bulk quantities and is far less potent than methamphetamine. Methamphetamine seizures have risen sevenfold in the last eight years, according to US Customs and Border meth capital of florida Protection (CBP) statistics that have been cited by the DEA. In weight, officials seized around 11,100 pounds of meth in February; that number increased in March, declined in April, and increased in May to nearly 19,800 pounds.

1. So it’s hard to say whether that amount has increased over the last six months and at what pace.
2. These organizations have also diversified their precursor chemical use, shifting among suppliers and chemicals to keep authorities off balance.
3. But it’s misleading to portray an increase in meth trafficking as a result of Biden’s immigration policies.
4. Itis spread by the fecal-oral route through close person-to-person contact or byingesting contaminated food or water.

The Administration’s Efforts to Prevent the Production and Use of Methamphetamine

In this stage the methamphetamine abuser may becomeviolent without provocation. Case histories indicate that tweakers have reactedviolently to the mere sight of a police officer’s uniform. Methamphetamine, also called meth, is a highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system by increasing the amount of dopamine in the brain. Meth takes the form of a white, odorless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder or crystals.

In a 26-month period, The Tulsa Police Dept. cleaned up 690 labs at a cost of $118,560,000. To increase the product’s strength, the meth “cook” combines the substance with chemicals such as battery acid, drain cleaner, lantern fuel and antifreeze. These dangerous chemicals are potentially explosive, and because the meth cooks are potentially drugged out and disoriented, they are often severely burned and disfigured or killed when their preparations explode. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has enacted regulations on the ingredients used to make meth, such as pseudoephedrine and ephedrine. Restricting access to these drugs is an effective way of limiting the production and use of methamphetamine. Meth-related overdoses, crimes, and deaths all take their toll on an area’s resources and well-being.

DeSantis leaves out context in claim about meth and the southern border

One metric, seizure data, does not show a steady uptick in the monthly number of pounds seized nor in the number of seizure events. In the absence of comprehensive data, immigration officials, lawmakers, and analysts tend to rely on drug seizure data for a sense of how and where illicit drugs cross U.S. borders. Historically, officials seize more illicit drugs at ports of entry than between ports of entry. Meth produced by criminal groups in Mexico has increasingly made its way into the U.S. ever since a 2006 U.S. law banned over-the-counter sales of cold medicines that had ingredients, such as pseudoephedrine, that were commonly used in the U.S. to make meth. That law, and a more potent and lower cost foreign meth, have contributed to decreased domestic production of meth. Despite passage of the CMEA, the number of domestic clandestine meth labs has recently been increasing.

Methamphetamine is extremely addictive and users can suffer severe consequences from abusing it regularly.

ONDCP is working closely with our partners throughout the Federal Government and Congress, and with State, local and tribal officials to address all aspects of the methamphetamine problem. This dangerous drug poses a serious health and public safety threat, and the Obama Administration is committed to driving down both the consumption and the domestic production of methamphetamine. As with many drugs, there are regional variations in the prevalence of methamphetamine manufacture, distribution, and abuse. Data from the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program show that the percentage of arrestees testing positive for meth is highest in the western region of the country. And California has experienced an increase in “super” labs in recent years, from 10 in 2007 to 15 in 2008 and 13 in 2009.

The list already includes cocaine, opium, methadone, alfentanil, carfentanil, fentanyl and sufentanil. The explosion of methamphetamine also appears to be another marketing triumph for the criminal groups, which seem to be learning from other experiments with drugs such as fentanyl. The potent synthetic opioid is regularly camouflaged in fake OxyContin, Xanax or Percocet pills. The pills are a softer entry point for users, who prefer the prescription drugs and are unaware they are even taking fentanyl.

In February, officers at ports of entry and Border Patrol agents recorded 342 meth seizure events. That number increased in March to 371, but declined in April and again in May. The principal chemicals are ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, anhydrous ammonia, and sodium or lithium metal.

“On one occasion, on one airline, six suitcases with this drug were smuggled into Orlando. They didn’t so much throw a pair of underwear in the suitcase to act like they were hiding the drugs. There were six of these suitcases on one flight,” Judd said, referring to Los Angeles International Airport. At a Friday news conference, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd showed six pieces of luggage that were fully loaded with methamphetamine.