Quote:
Originally Posted by FL_Watch
Besides Aroostook County, I hear that there are pockets of Upstate New York and Western Pennsylvania where methamphetamine use is (or was) on par with the Midwest and West---what is the current meth capital of the Northeast/New England region, and is that area suffering from similar problems as the most meth-stricken areas in the Midwest and South?
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I don't know where the meth capital of New England/Northeast is but we have a real meth issue here. There are fairly regular busts of meth labs in rural Erie County and in some of the surrounding rural counties here in Western PA. Nobody seems to smoke pot anymore; they like meth and the Oxycodones. Sometimes heroin if they can't get a hold of the Oxycodone.
There are definitely some problems associated with the meth issue here. The police are dealing with more crimes, particularly home break-ins and various types of theft. Presumably the items are being stolen by people using the meth to sell them to buy more meth.
Meth labs are also quite flammable/volatile. In the rural town where I work, there have been several meth houses that have caught fire due to meth lab explosions.
The town doesn't have the resources to deal with the addiction issues and the unfortunate outcome is that the users are arrested, go to jail for a bit then are right back on the streets when what they need is treatment.
I saw the same thing going on in rural Kentucky. I'll never forget the day when one of my employees called in absolutely hysterical and said that she couldn't come to work because the house next door exploded and caught fire then burned her house down. It turned out to be a meth house
I think that it's a problem everywhere.