Seriously...How bad IS the meth problem in central MO? (St. Louis: 2013, crime rate)

[dragon0524]

I keep hearing about how Sedalia has the 3rd highest crime rate in MO after StL and KC, mainly due to meth labs. In all honesty, is the crime really that bad there? And if so, how badly has it spread to the outlying towns (Tipton, Knob Noster, Cole Camp, etc.)?

[cyrano]

I had no idea how bad it was, but take a look....

//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...-Missouri.html

Nearly double the national average for violent crime!

[dragon0524]

Scary statistics, for sure. When I visited Sedalia there was no hint of such things! Maybe it's just a couple of bad areas of the city contributing to those numbers as opposed to a city-wide issue? Anyone know?

[kmbjbb]

I do know Missouri had a bad problem with Meth. I also know, when I was living in Missouri (1996-2009) that they were really cracking down on it. Not sure about now, but when I left, there were less and less Meth houses and such.

Violent crime is a problem and mostly in the larger cities and areas. Economy plays a big part in that. In a way, I was sad to leave Missouri, but in another I was glad.

[Flyover_Country]

Originally Posted by kmbjbb

I do know Missouri had a bad problem with Meth. I also know, when I was living in Missouri (1996-2009) that they were really cracking down on it. Not sure about now, but when I left, there were less and less Meth houses and such.

The meth lab problem seemed to go away- or at least went away from the area I lived in- in roughly the mid-2000s. The problem surfaced in the late 1990s, peaked in the early 2000s, and then declined after the authorities started to make it much more difficult to buy several precursor chemicals. You still can't buy Sudafed without a doctor's script in quite a few areas.

Violent crime is a problem and mostly in the larger cities and areas. Economy plays a big part in that. In a way, I was sad to leave Missouri, but in another I was glad.

The biggest reason I saw for violent crime in the central Missouri during the 2000s was the influx of gangs from the New Orleans area coming up north after Hurricane Katrina. They found that I-70 was a great highway to traffic drugs on and did so. They also carried on their regular thug behavior of fights, stabbings, and shootings which was very abnormal for the area. They eventually got rounded up but it was pretty wild for a few years.

[dragon0524]

Originally Posted by Flyover_Country

The meth lab problem seemed to go away- or at least went away from the area I lived in- in roughly the mid-2000s. The problem surfaced in the late 1990s, peaked in the early 2000s, and then declined after the authorities started to make it much more difficult to buy several precursor chemicals. You still can't buy Sudafed without a doctor's script in quite a few areas.



The biggest reason I saw for violent crime in the central Missouri during the 2000s was the influx of gangs from the New Orleans area coming up north after Hurricane Katrina. They found that I-70 was a great highway to traffic drugs on and did so. They also carried on their regular thug behavior of fights, stabbings, and shootings which was very abnormal for the area. They eventually got rounded up but it was pretty wild for a few years.

What area did you live in? I notice a lot of the crime statistics are taken from data gathered in 2010, so you're saying it may have improved in the past 3 years?

[Flyover_Country]

Originally Posted by dragon0524

What area did you live in? I notice a lot of the crime statistics are taken from data gathered in 2010, so you're saying it may have improved in the past 3 years?

I lived in a few different places in east-central/central MO, the general region being from an hour west of STL through Columbia bordered by U.S. 50 and I-70. I have been out of the state for the past couple of years but when I left, the meth problem was largely in the past.

[kmbjbb]

I lived in Columbia/Hallsville (1996-2007) and then Villa Ridge/Washington (2007-2009) which is just South Southwest of St. Louis.

[cyrano]

Overall, meth production may be declining in Missouri because the product is being driven out of the market by cheap, mass-produced Mexican meth. Here's a DEA map showing "meth clandestine lab incident" statistics by state 2004-2012 showing that nationwide, the number of incidents has been cut in half in that time...and the Missouri number has fallen during that time from nearly 3,000 to 1,825 last year. But Missouri still "leads" the country in meth production by state. Here's a highway patrol set of maps showing the numbers breakdown by county from 2000-2013. Jefferson County looks to be the long-time "leader" among counties in the state-- but St. Charles County is a real surprise with its numbers.

More than a decade ago, I saw a highway patrol presentation for state judges (I'm not one and wasn't then, just worked for the state court administrator's office) on Missouri meth labs. Then, they were saying that the Ozark tradition of making moonshine had morphed into the moonshiners' children making meth. I bought it then but I don't see the numbers shown on the maps proving that up. Sure, there's a pretty good pocket in the southwestern corner of the state, from Springfield and Joplin south to the Arkansas line, but that's nothing compared to the St. Louis area, especially the outlying counties.

Back to the OP's question- if Sedalia's problem is caused by meth, then it's not reflected in the county statistics.

[Old Trafford]

Originally Posted by cyrano

Overall, meth production may be declining in Missouri because the product is being driven out of the market by cheap, mass-produced Mexican meth.

More jobs going to Mexico