As the opioid crisis continues across the country, law enforcement is also confronting the surge of small-scale manufacturers "cooking" drugs like methamphetamine in makeshift labs.
The American Addiction Centers Resource conducted a study , uncovering the scale of the meth problem on both a national and more localized scale. The study analyzed thousands of meth lab busts and seizures across the nation, tracking geographical and chronological trends.
Their website at Rehabs.com created an interactive map based on the last decade so people can see just how close they live or have lived to a meth lab. In Michigan alone more than 1,300 labs have been taken down by the long arm of the law.
Research revealed that over the past decade, there were 11.5 meth labs per 100,000 residents, totaling approximately 1,396 clandestine labs.
Detroit residents, for example, have lived within 6.89 miles from a lab on average.
In other data analyzed, it was revealed that that the average potency of crystal-meth seized in Michigan was 57%, roughly in line with the national average of 58%. 19,698 net grams were seized in 2016.
Missouri and Arkansas were among the states with the highest meth labs per 100,000 residents, at 27.6 labs and 24.7 labs. Connecticut and Hawaii had the least number of meth labs at 0.06 and 0.07.
"It’s startling to see that so many meth labs have existed in seemingly safe, family-friendly neighborhoods,’ says Ruchi Dhami, Director Of Brand at Rehabs.com. "Perhaps if just as many accessible rehabilitation facilities were present, these numbers would be lower."
Click here to use the interactive map.
