NCJ Number
226455
Date Published
December 2008
Length
51 pages
Annotation
This national-level strategic assessment of methamphetamine trafficking in the United States as of the end of 2008 addresses significant trends in methamphetamine production, transportation, distribution, and abuse.
Abstract
Preliminary 2008 data on methamphetamine availability and seizures show a strengthening in domestic methamphetamine availability and production, as well as an increase in the flow of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico. This follows a decrease in methamphetamine availability in U.S. drug markets throughout 2007, causing instability in the methamphetamine supply chain. Methamphetamine availability stabilized and possibly increased after the first half of 2008. This was likely due in part to increasing domestic production of the drug in order to compensate for reduced Mexican methamphetamine production because of Mexico's import restrictions on ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, which are chemicals used for methamphetamine production. Individuals and criminal groups are increasingly circumventing U.S. State and Federal pseudoephedrine sales restrictions by making numerous small-quantity pseudoephedrine product purchases from multiple retail outlets. Regarding methamphetamine use, national-level drug prevalence data indicate a slight decrease in methamphetamine use; treatment admissions for methamphetamine abuse, however, are stable. Due to intelligence gaps, there are no estimates of the amount of methamphetamine being smuggled from Canada into the United States. Regarding future projections, it is likely that domestic methamphetamine production will increase moderately in the near term due to the resurgence of small-scale methamphetamine production, the relocation of some Mexican methamphetamine producers from Mexico to California, and the emergence of large-scale pseudoephedrine operations throughout the country. In addition, increasing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine diversion in Mexico and associated increases in methamphetamine production by Mexican drug trafficking organizations should continue in the near term. This should facilitate a subsequent flow of methamphetamine into the United States. 9 tables, 11 figures, and a listing of Federal, State, regional, and local sources for drug-related data coming to the National Drug Intelligence Center