LAGRANGE, MO. -- It's getting worse in our community, and people don't realize how bad it's getting.
That was the message of a Meth 101 program at the LaGrange Youth Center Tuesday evening.
Mike Murphy with the Northeast Missouri Drug Task Force told the crowd that Missouri ranked second in the country last year in the number of meth labs.....trailing the State of Tennessee.
But he expects that number to top 9,000 in 2011.
LaGrange Police Chief Dale McNelly told KHQA that Highway 61 in northeast Missouri is a transport line for meth, which is highly correlated with the state of the economy.
Meth is also toxic to the environment in addition to its effects on a user's health.
Murphy says every pound of meth produced can yield up to five pounds of toxic waste.
As for a breakdown of who uses meth--Murphy says meth tends to be a white person's drug.....while black drug users are more likely to use crack cocaine.
And meth isn't just a problem in the Show-Me-State.
The Quincy Police Department reported that meth arrests are on the rise in the Gem City as well.
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