Honestly, I had thought it was on the decline based on news coverage in recent years. Clearly, it is not.
From 2011 to 2015, methamphetamine use in Wisconsin likely expanded between 250 and 300 percent, based on analysis of meth-related arrests, cases, charges, and seizure statistics provided by local law enforcement, state government agencies, and open source reporting. While heroin use continues to remain a focus for Wisconsin’s law enforcement and treatment services, meth has quietly surged to a point where the number of cases, arrests, and charges are on par with heroin. The areas affected by increasing meth use are mostly concentrated in western Wisconsin and rural areas of the state. These areas, unlike more urban areas, are ill-equipped to handle rising methamphetamine use as they do not have the necessary resources to effectively mitigate the threat.
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Wisconsin meth is produced in Mexico and trafficked to the state via California or Minnesota.
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High availability of methamphetamine across Wisconsin has led to the price being relatively low cost.
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Methamphetamine use is highest in Northwestern Wisconsin but in the past five years has expanded south and east.
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Between 2011 and 2015, meth-related cases submitted to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab increased 349 percent. In comparison, heroin-related cases rose 97 percent in that same period.
The meth problem in America today reminds me a lot of the “bathtub” gin problem back in the 1920’s…anyone other than me remember how that one got solved?