Is Springfield the meth capital of Tenn?

[Bones]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

Just because there aren't a lot of busts in a particular area doesn't necessarily mean they aren't a problem. A lot of arrests could simply mean the local law enforcement is more dedicated to cleaning up that particular problem.

They might also have more funds and resources allocated for this ......

[southman]

Originally Posted by Bones

They might also have more funds and resources allocated for this ......

Very True. Or, the low bust-count counties are too busy "busting" speeders....

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

Thanks for the catch, JMT. I mistyped, thinking about McMinnville and typing "McMinn County,"

I will edit my other post.

Oh it's an easy mistake! Tennessee is full of oddities like that: Shelbyville is not in Shelby County, McMinnville is not in McMinn County, Franklin is not in Franklin County, Smithville is not in Smith County, etc.

At any rate, yes meth is a big problem in rural Tennessee (as it is in much of rural America). For some reason Tennessee's "meth belt" goes from about Putnam and Cumberland counties south through Warren County and then heads southeast through Grundy County and then covers much of Southeast Tennessee. Why there are more meth labs (or more meth arrests?) in this area is anyone's guess. It's certainly not the only part of the state that is impoverished and has very remote locations.

While I'm not too concerned about the impact this would have on my daily life, it does make things like looking for real estate more interesting. From what I understand, it costs a fortune to clean up a former meth lab. Anyone looking at cheap mobile homes in rural Tennessee should probably be very careful. Likewise, I've heard that some meth heads will turn cheap motel rooms into temporary meth labs, so I'd probably avoid the el cheapo motels, too. A law enforcement friend of mine in Jackson County told me that meth labs smell like cat urine, so if you smell cat urine around a motel room, you should probably look elsewhere.

[Hey_Hey]

I work in a hospital and deal with drug users on a daily basis, and I have never understood the obsession with meth labs and meth use by the public at large. Meth probably ranks fourth among drugs used from my experience (I'm excluding alcohol and marijuana). Prescription opioids like hydrocodone/oxycodone/morphine/dilaudid are by far the most abused drugs in this area and they do infinitely more harm than meth. After the the prescription opioids heroin is the next largest offender. Heroin is making a comeback after 15 years of decline, and it is killing people on a daily basis in this area. Third on the list is cocaine and crack cocaine. After that is methamphetamine. In rural areas the cocaine to methamphetamine ratio may change, but heroin and opioids are by far the most abused drugs. Another category is a catch all that probably rivals meth as a drug of abuse and that is the designer drugs: ecstasy, molly, "synthetic" marijuana, bath salts and other like those.

[nashvols]

^^^
I agree that certain drugs are more damaging to the user, but I think part of the reason for the spotlight on meth is the potential collateral damage to others -- meth lab explosions, buildings being condemned, burn victims from said explosions...

It may not be *worse* statistically, but it's easier to paint a scary picture that could affect YOU.