Check it Out: • 1 LB of METH = 5 LBS of   TOXIC WASTE • In 2004 alone, there were more   than 10,000 meth lab cleanups   at a cost of $18.6 million (Source: DEA, NIDA, NIH, USDHHS)

Other Drug Information: Alcohol Cocaine Ecstasy Fentanyl Hallucinogens Heroin Inhalants LSD Marijuana Prescription Drugs Steroids

The Many Faces of Meth: Before After

(Source: Multnomah County Sheriff's Office - Faces of Meth™)

State Crackdowns Push Meth Making to Mexico

States are claiming success in shutting down small-time local methamphetamine labs, but the crackdown appears to be fueling growth in meth manufacturing in Mexico, the Brownsville Herald reported Aug. 16.

Police raids and restrictions on precursor chemicals and cold medicines have hindered meth production in some U.S. states; 73,000 meth labs and dumps have been identified and/or shut down since 2000.

But meth consumption has not been affected, and manufacturers have simply moved their operations south of the border, where the drug can be made cheaply and easily smuggled into the U.S. "Methamphetamines production has moved south," said Ray D'Alessio of the DEA's Houston Regional Office. "Mexican drug traffickers already have established transportation routes and markets for cocaine and marijuana."

An estimated 80 percent of the meth used in the U.S. is now made in Mexico, the DEA says. Border agents seized 3,820 pounds of meth at U.S./Mexico crossings in 2003, up from 14 pounds in 1992.

"Super labs" in Mexico are able to purchase huge quantities of cold pills containing pseudoephedrine from China and other overseas suppliers and use the tablets to make meth. DEA reports show that as much as 80 percent of all methamphetamines used in the United States is made in Mexico.