Fears of Crystal Meth Crisis Rise in NYC

[moe.ron]

Fears of Crystal Meth Crisis Rise in NYC

Sun May 16, 1:47 PM ET

By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - Skeletal women surface at 12-step programs once exclusive to gay methamphetamine addicts. An aspiring fashion designer is indicted after federal agents claim he was overheard trying to collect cash from a meth deal. A disc jockey at a popular dance club makes no attempt to hide his drug of choice: meth.

Barely noticed in New York outside the gay community just a year ago, meth — and new signs of its spread — has created a citywide scare.

The highly addictive stimulant "could be the crack (cocaine) of the 21st century if we don't do something to stop it," New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer said last month at a Manhattan news conference warning of meth's eastward march.

The drug has been a problem for years in many parts of the country. But until recently, New York — a city normally at epicenter of drug trends — wasn't on the meth map, said Anthony Placido, head the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York office.

Read Rest Here

[Kevin]

In Oklahoma, it just became law that to buy a pseudophedrine product, you have to go to the drug store and show an ID -- which is logged on a statewide database (pseudophedrine is the active ingredient in meth and can be found in many products like sudafed, etc.).

One of our reps just proposed a bill to the US House that would make this federal law.

That could go a long way to stamping out a number of these private producers.

[33girl]

I thought crystal meth was "over" once David Silver took it.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by ktsnake
In Oklahoma, it just became law that to buy a pseudophedrine product, you have to go to the drug store and show an ID -- which is logged on a statewide database (pseudophedrine is the active ingredient in meth and can be found in many products like sudafed, etc.).

One of our reps just proposed a bill to the US House that would make this federal law.

That could go a long way to stamping out a number of these private producers.

There are federal laws regulating ephedrine type products. My sister worked for a pharmaceutical company. They had to keep precise records of who purchased ephedrine as well as dates, amounts, and places. I forget the details, but some of their product was found in a crime lab. Luckily, they had followed the rules and could trace the drugs back to who sold it illegally. Apparently, it was pretty serious.

[Tippiechick]

Tennessee is HUGE in meth lab numbers. You can tell if someone is using meth. They are super skinny, smell AWFUL, and have lesion type acne sores on their face and body... There's a limit on how much pseudophedrine-type medication here as well.

Meth is really bad. Whatever the fumes hit becomes toxic. If a child is removed from a meth lab-home they can't take ANYTHING from the home. They have to even get rid of their clothing they are wearing. And, it is VERY easy to cause explosions from making meth. An apartment complex here in town had to be demolished after a meth lab exploded and caught the complex on fire.

It's a huge problem here where everyone knows everyone else's business. I can only imagine what it would be like in a highly populated area such as NY where it seems as if no pays attenion to what anyone else does.

ETA: As I was watching the news, they did a story on meth burns. The Vanderbilt Burn Center in Nashville sees at least 2 patients a week for very severe meth burns.

[norcalchick]

i heard that meth speeds up your body's metabolism and you don't feel hungry, so people use it for weight loss. not a good idea obviously. they get sores on your body because the way it goes out of your system is by it sweating out. so you get acne and you and stink.

[Kevin]

Not to mention the sunken cheeks and rapid aging. Kind of gives folks the "instant WT" look.

The stuff is bad news.

And it's not an ephedrine product, it's a pseudophedrine product. At the moment, most pseudophedrine products (nationally) can be bought right off the shelves at any drug store. In Oklahoma, we changed that. One of our congressmen has also proposed a bill in the US Congress to take pseudophedrine products off the shelf. He wants it where you have to show an ID and sign for it at the counter of a drug store.

If passed, a lot of your little home cookeries would go under for lack of raw materials. It would make the price go up, however, meth would be as hard to come by as most of your other rarer drugs at that point (heroine, cocaine, etc)