Indiana Leads the Nation in Meth Lab Seizures

Indiana is now the meth capital of America. At least that appears to be the consensus of a recent law enforcement report ranking the nation's tweeker states.

According to the Department of Justice’s National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure Report, there were nearly 1,800 meth lab seizures in Indiana last year, which is almost a 6% increase from the 1,698 reported in 2012. However, it appears as though Hoosier meth heads are hell bent on outdoing themselves in 2013, with Vanderburgh County alone already accounting for over 115 of the state’s 1,808 busts.

“The problem is growing, and we are seeing more meth labs. But there is also a lot of good police work being done,” said Sergeant Niki Crawford with the Indiana State Police methamphetamine department. “As far as how many labs are out there, we have nothing but anecdotal evidence. ... We have been third in the nation for the last three years.”

Indiana authorities say that over the course of the past decade, the department responsible for tracking methamphetamine has been training and adding personnel in an attempt to combat the state’s rabid epidemic. However, the battle continues to be uphill as meth fiends continue to find innovative methods for getting their hands on this dangerous drug.

“Unfortunately, addicts have easy access to manufacture their drug of choice,” said Crwaford. “With most other drugs, you need a dealer or you need a large amount of cash. With meth, all you need is $8 to go down to your local store to buy a product containing pseudoephedrine, and in a few hours you can take that $8 and turn it into $50 worth of meth.”

A federal law was put into place in 2006 to assist in diminishing meth production in America. The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 was initiated to curb the sales of products containing pseudoephedrine – stocking these items behind the counter.

Yet, that effort has been seemingly unsuccessful, with Indiana continuing to increase its meth production, while other most states appear to rely on Mexican import dope to keep them going.