For most, the stereotype of San Diego, California involves sandy beaches and a warm, moderate climate. But those who know the city intimately, see a darker side. One that is drug-related.
Though San Diego is no longer considered the "meth capital," the drug continues to be a huge problem in this Southwest corner of the States. Meth continues to take a deadly toll and the statistics are disturbing. As reported in www.nbcsandiego.com.
According to officials from the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), there were 217 meth-related deaths in San Diego in 2012 – up from 140 in 2008. That marks a 55 percent increase in local meth-related deaths.
The 2012 figure is the second highest since the county’s Methamphetamine Strike Force – a group composed of approximately 70 local, state and federal organizations and agencies – first began tracking these types of incidents in the mid-90s.
Here is a frightening statistic: 36 percent of adult arrestees in 2012 tested positive for meth, compared to 24 percent in 2008. That is more than one in three!
This certainly seems to show that meth continues to be the drug of choice for adults in San Diego, especially for people who are on probation.
On a positive note, the number of juvenile arrestees who tested positive for meth dropped to 4 percent in 2012, down from 10 percent in 2008.
Law enforcement officials have a continued battle to face as meth manufacturers are still finding new ways to make and distribute the drug.
This includes smuggling liquid meth across the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as using a potentially explosive meth manufacturing method called “shake ‘n bake,” in which chemicals are mixed together in a 2-liter soda bottle.
The best thing is more drug classes. Education, places like onlinedrugclass.com, provides the foundation to keep people from ever trying a drug like meth.