my "hood" is overrun

[eviltravis]

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed all of the meth related crime in their towns? I live in a town of about 60,000 people. At least once a week there is something in our news that is drug related. If it's not an outright drug bust, then it's a violent crime connected to drugs. Oh, and of course the occasional explosion, or fire from the nasty junk they make the stuff with. Is it like this everywhere, or have I just been living under a rock until now? We have very few law enforcement officers here, and I'm kind of concerned for my community. One of the kids arrested this summer was 17 and had a rocket launcher along with 7 rifles. Montana has less than a million people all together. It seems that we have a lot of crime for the relatively small amount of people here. What's going on in some of your hometowns?

 

[beemerb]

very normal around here.Drugs and gangs have invaded many areas.I hav eno answers but sure wish I did.

 

[AR-10]

I live in a town of less than 4,000 souls, in a county with a population of about 20,000.

We have been having about five occurances a year the last three years, involving meth labs being discovered in the county. I'm sure they are finding only a small percentage of them. My area is farm country, and the farmers are having more and more trouble with people stealing anhydrous ammonia, which is very dangerous to handle. Most farmers have taken to putting locks on their tanks.

Meth is very cheap to make, and very profitable to sell.

 

[Long Path]

Lots being made, most of it being sold simply, used simply around my suburban area, but the bulk of the use is still in the larger cities.

Labs are tending toward mobile ones in the back of vans, now.

 

[Quartus]

This is quite common in rural areas. It's just easier to hide a meth lab there. Folks are far apart, and secrecy just comes a lot easier than when you live (if you can call it that) elbow to elbow.

And meth is too easy to make. The components are easy to come by, the instructions are readily available, and the equipment is simple, commonplace kitchen stuff.


It all adds up to a big problem.

 

[croyance]

The other reason it is made in the country - the smell. In a more open area, the stench is less noticable. With all that space between people, the wind will dissapate the smell. In a city, it is harder to hide a meth lab because of the smell.

Drugs of various sorts have been invading small towns for over a decade now. I won't do into various reasons why. What I will say is that it doesn't matter how much supply there is if there is no demand.

 

[paratrooper]

Most often meth labs are busted because they catch fire . Some don't catch fire. Maybe those places just need a little help .

 

[PATH]

Live north of NYC. Our DA here is a firm believer in sending predicate felons away for a long time! The Rockefeller Laws here are strictly enforced. My town and county have a very low, low rate of crime of any sort! Most of our LEOs are pretty good.
Many people are well armed! Except for the Socialists it would be a great place to live.

 

[Jody Hudson]

From what little I know, there is a preponderance of Meth labs in rural areas because of the easy access to anhydrous ammonia which is available by the ton at many farms, and in some cases in large tanks far away from habitation.

 

[Good Guy]

While living in rural NV, a local I spoke with mentioned that there were at least several meth labs and many speed freaks that inhabited that community of maybe 1,000 or so residents. I was a little skeptical, but he offered to take me for a ride around the area at 3 or 4 in the morning and see these freaks for myself. I declined his offer. Apparently brewing this crap is much less obvious (the smell) if you're living on a few acres between you and your next door neighbor.

I have seen a couple of hardcore meth users, and the word FREAK definitely applies, like they aren't even human.

 

[Dan Morris]

I'll tole ya what......I live in a 2.2 million metro area.... you come here and I'll go there....all jest aside, there are problems every where....I still think they are small in the outlying areas......
Dan

 

[RikWriter]

The tiny little town of Polk City, FL is one of the biggest meth-producing centers in the country.

 

[LawDog]

Meth labs are a nightmare. Just about every little thing in a meth lab will give you terminal frostbite, melt the flesh off your bones, blow your lab into low earth orbit, drown you in your own blood, flash-fry you into a crispy-critter or all of the above at once.

I hate the darn things.

LawDog

 

[OF]

Meth is very cheap to make, and very profitable to sell.

And that, my friends, is the crux of the biscuit.

- Gabe

 

[Mort]

A few months ago, I was driving home. About a block from my apartment building, I saw a great convocation of police cars. As I drove by, I shot a glance at the house and saw a robot.

"Hey cool, a robot," I thought. Then I realized it was the Hazmat robot. I drove off. I shudder to think what would have happened had something gone wrong--the lab was at the foot of a rather steep hill, on top of which was an apartment complex (mine, as it happened).

Meth labs aren't really a "drug war" issue in my opinion--they're a high explosives issue. I guess the keen thing now is "roving labs" in vans.

Oh, and Gabe--didja get any onya?

 

[Seeker]

What I will say is that it doesn't matter how much supply there is if there is no demand.

What I never understood was what the attraction was to staying awake for 48+ hours. I have always liked a good nights rest, evan if I party untl 3 or 4 am, I still want to go to sleep before the sun comes up.

and the word FREAK definitely applies

I've know a fair number of cannabis users, and a few coke (that's cocaine not coca cola) heads, and when I started meeting speed freaks it was obvious way the are called freaks. As a student of psychology (and as a carny) I learned that sleep depravation is bad. After 36 hours hallucinations are probable (good thing doctors i.e Residents aren't required to be on duty that long ) and mental ability drops off faster than a .22LR at 300 yards.

Don't mind pot smokers a bit, but keep the freaks away!

 

[Herr Walther]

The authorities bust Meth labs around here all the time. They also bust a lot of people for stealing anhydrous ammonia from suppliers and farmer's spray tanks.

Real popular income generator around these parts.

 

[Mort]

I dunno...I've actually known quite a few folks into CR, and they didn't seem that freaky to me. They just talked my ear off, then slept for a day.

Here's a situation that could benefit from safe and legal manufacture.

 

[Quartus]

Mort, meeting a few users does not give anyone enough info to have an opinion on that subject.


As for urban vs. rural use - it's mostly made in rural areas. Most of the customers are in urban areas. It's just a numbers game. That's where most of the people ARE. Very much like dairy farms. Of course, there are urban labs and rural users.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Around here they mostly get caught when they burn. There is speculation by some that it's strange how blind an eye the local police turn, especially in light of some rumors that have dogged our chief of police since before I can remember.

The other night a trailer out at the local campground exploded. A friend was the first EMT on the scene; he said the kid who was working in the lab had 3rd degree burns over 50% of his upper body. My firend is himself a survivor of a fire when he was about 4 and still has the scarring over most of his face and his hands, so he knows something about this. Makes me wonder how it could possibly be worth it when any second the whole thing could just up and burn you to death for no reason at all.