NCJ Number
235587
Journal
Journal of Crime & Justice Volume: 34 Issue: 2 Dated: July 2011 Pages: 103-123
Date Published
July 2011
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact of methamphetamine on crime.
Abstract
Much of the knowledge available on the impact of methamphetamine on crime is limited to treatment populations, self-report surveys, methamphetamine laboratory seizures, and anecdotal statistics. In many ways methamphetamine has been viewed by the public as the next great drug scare, equal to or even more dangerous than the crack scare of the late 1980s. There is little hard data, however, on the extent of methamphetamine's impact on the criminal justice system in individual communities. This article examines 3 years of felony drug filings in Mesa County, CO, a community that has been hard hit by methamphetamine over a 15-year period. More than 1,100 methamphetamine arrests were made in the 3 years of the study, but virtually none of those arrests were for methamphetamine laboratory seizures. The study reports on the results of a felony drug-tracking system in a District Attorney's office, and provides both a demographic profile of methamphetamine arrestees and comparison of methamphetamine cases with other drugs. The study illustrates the impact of disruptions in Mexican drug trafficking organizations on local methamphetamine supply and demand, and demonstrates how changes in local law enforcement drug interdiction practices influence arrest statistics. (Published Abstract)