By Hugh C. McBride

Considering the devastation that the epidemic of methamphetamine abuse has wrought in recent years, you'd think that it would be safe to say that when it come to meth in the United States, things could hardly get worse.

But if you did think that, you'd be wrong.

Law enforcement agencies and drug abuse experts across the nation are sounding the alarm about new processes for manufacturing methamphetamine. These new recipes, which have been referred to as "shake and bake meth," "backpack meth" and "one-pot meth," feature a simpler formula and streamlined process that officials fear may make the drug more accessible -- and may make detection of meth labs more difficult.

In other words, as is unfortunately almost always the case when it comes to drug abuse and addiction, the meth menace remains a very real threat.

The Prevalence of Meth Abuse

Americans have been struggling to address widespread meth abuse for much of the previous two decades. Rates of meth abuse and addiction soared through the 1990s as the drug made its way from Hawaii to the mainland United States, then worked its way east from California.

Five years into the current century, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) painted a bleak picture of the degree to which meth had permeated society:

• Data collected during the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), has led researchers to estimate that about 10.4 million people ages 12 and older (which equates to 4.3 percent of the U.S. population) have tried meth at least once. 
• Approximately 1.3 million Americans reported past-year methamphetamine use in 2005, and 512,000 of those surveyed reported having used the drug within the previous 30 days.
• According to the 2005 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey of drug use and attitudes among U.S. students, 4.5 percent of high school seniors have used meth at least once.
• Among younger students, the MTF charted lifetime meth use at 4.1 percent of high school sophomores and 3.1 percent of eighth-graders.

The Dangers of Meth Addiction

Even without the advent of a simplified meth recipe, the drug posed a significant danger both to individuals who abuse the drug and the communities in which meth abuse is prevalent.

For a quick glimpse into the effects of meth abuse, consider the following four points that were expressed by NIDA Director Nora Volkow, M.D., in the introduction to an online research report on the drug:

• Methamphetamine abuse leads to devastating medical, psychological and social consequences.
• Adverse health effects associated with meth abuse include memory loss, aggression, psychotic behavior, heart damage, malnutrition and severe dental problems.
• The abuse of meth contributes to increases in the transmission of the blood-borne pathogens that are responsible for infectious diseases such as hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.
• Meth abuse and addiction have led to community-wide crime waves, increased unemployment, child neglect and abuse, and a host of additional social ills.

Short-term effects of meth abuse include hyperthermia (raised body temperature), rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, decreased appetite, increased energy and a sense of euphoria.

Extended (and extensive) meth use can lead to addiction, memory loss, aggression, psychosis, mood disturbances and dental damage so severe and so obvious that it has its own nickname: "meth mouth."

On a community-wide level, experts with The Rand Corp., a research-oriented nonprofit group, estimate that meth abuse costs the nation about $23 billion every year in lost productivity, crime and criminal justice, health care, drug treatment and child endangerment protection.

New Recipes, New Dangers

With families and communities already fighting the effects of meth abuse, the revelation that easier (and more easily hidden) means of manufacturing the drug are available is hardly good news.

An Aug. 25 article on the website of North Carolina news channel WRAL provides a quick look at the nature of the problem:

Only a few years ago, making methamphetamine required an elaborate lab ? with filthy containers simmering over open flames, cans of flammable liquids and hundreds of pills.

The process gave off foul odors, sometimes sparked explosions and was so hard to conceal that dealers often "cooked" their drugs in rural areas.

But authorities say they have seen a shift toward drug makers using a "shake-and-bake" approach, using a faster, cheaper and much simpler method with ingredients that can be carried in a backpack and mixed just about anywhere.

"It just takes a small area to make, if they want to make a small amount, but that's what's so bad about it," Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said. "They can make it in a motel room, they can make it in a room next door to their children, and a lot of people do this with kids in the house."

Authorities began to take notice of increased reliance on these methods of meth manufacturing in 2007, which indicates that the simplified techniques may have become more popular in response to 2005's Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. The act significantly limited the availability of pseudoephedrine, a primary ingredient in more traditional meth recipes.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America has noted that the number of meth labs in the United States fell by about 80 percent following the 2005 legislation -- a trend that has been turning around as shake and bake, one-pot and backpack meth-makers become more commonplace:

In the first three months of 2009, the Tulsa Police Department discovered almost 60 labs, compared to 41 in all of 2008.

At a community summit to address the one-pot crisis last month, Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor warned that if the situation doesn’t improve, “the cost of responding to meth-related fires and incidents will start breaking police and fire department budgets in these already-difficult economic times.”

According to a Partnership survey of 20 U.S. law enforcement agencies, the one-pot method takes less time, leaves less mess and is just as strong and addictive as the meth produced in super labs in Mexico and California. With ingredients small enough to fit inside a backpack, this new method eliminates the ammonia odor, the usual tell-tale sign that a meth lab is present.

“This is the most common method in our community, and unfortunately we see plenty of this,” says Officer Grant Melton with the Louisville Metro Police Department. “This method is just as dangerous as a traditional meth lab and there are always unknown chemicals involved and this always causes a hazard to the everyday citizen.”

Ending the Epidemic

Though legislators and law enforcement officials continue to fight the good fight when it comes to methamphetamine abuse and addiction, education and treatment remain among the most likely means of ending this epidemic.

If you or someone you love is struggling with an addiction to meth, know that professional treatment is both available and effective. Depending upon the nature and severity of an individual's meth problem, the best treatment may involve outpatient therapy, residential care, participation in an ongoing recovery support group or a combination thereof.

Once you find the treatment that is best suited to meet your specific needs, remaining in treatment for the longest possible time -- and continuing with aftercare and developing a strong support network -- has been documented to significantly increase the likelihood of overcoming relapses and achieving long-term recovery.