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™)

Meth Money Diverted to Pet Projects

Federal funds to fight methamphetamine production and use often goes to states represented by powerful lawmakers rather than those that need it most, the Associated Press reported March 23.

Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine reported that 84 percent of anti-meth funds -- a total of $179 million -- had been earmarked by lawmakers for special projects in their own states and districts. "As a result of the significant use of congressional earmarks in this program, funding is not always directed to the areas of the country with the most significant meth problem," Fine said.

Missouri, for example, had more meth labs seized than any state other than California between 1998 and 2004, but ranked tenth in terms of anti-meth funding received. Grants to states like Iowa and Vermont were sometimes used for programs that had little or nothing to do with methamphetamine.

The report blamed the Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services for poor oversight of the program.