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Vermont Drug Threat Assessment
January 2002

Methamphetamine

The availability and abuse of methamphetamine are extremely limited in Vermont, making the threat posed by the drug low. The annual number of methamphetamine-related primary treatment admissions in Vermont remained relatively constant over the past 5 years, averaging only 12 per year through FY2000. Additionally, methamphetamine seizures are rare; law enforcement officials have not seized any methamphetamine laboratories in the state since 1990.

Abuse

Methamphetamine, also known as meth and crank, is a synthetic stimulant. The drug mimics adrenaline, stimulating the central nervous system, and is psychologically addictive. Long-term abuse can cause psychological effects that resemble schizophrenia. Methamphetamine abusers may experience a heightened sense of anger and panic, increased aggression, paranoia, delusions of insects crawling under or on the skin, and homicidal and suicidal thoughts. Researchers report that chronic methamphetamine abusers show signs of brain damage as well.

Treatment data indicate that the rate of methamphetamine abuse in Vermont is stable at very low levels and is significantly lower than that of any other drug. Vermont had 15 treatment admissions for methamphetamine as the primary substance of abuse in FY1996, 9 each in FY1997 and FY1998, 13 in FY1999, and 12 in FY2000, according to the Vermont Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs. (See Table 5 in Overview section.)

  

Availability

Methamphetamine is sporadically available in Vermont. In 1999 law enforcement officials in Vermont seized 2 kilograms of very low-quality methamphetamine produced using an unspecified method. This was the only significant methamphetamine seizure ever in the state. An unsophisticated Caucasian criminal group that had planned to sell the drug in the state purchased the methamphetamine in California and was attempting to send the methamphetamine through express mail services when it was seized.

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Violence

The distribution and abuse of methamphetamine do not pose a significant threat to Vermont. However, methamphetamine abusers often experience feelings of paranoia, fright, and confusion and, as a result, may become violent. Individuals addicted to methamphetamine are unpredictable and often commit violent crimes to obtain funds to purchase the drug. Therefore, if the drug becomes more available in the state, violence associated with its abuse could increase.

  

Production

There are no reports of methamphetamine production in Vermont. The last methamphetamine laboratory seizure in the state was in 1990.

Mexican drug trafficking organizations produce methamphetamine in laboratories in Mexico and in the western United States and are the primary suppliers of the methamphetamine available in Vermont as well as the rest of the United States, according to U.S. law enforcement officials.

  

Transportation

Due to the insignificant level of the methamphetamine problem in Vermont, information pertaining to the transportation of the drug is limited. DEA reports that a criminal group composed of young Caucasians was responsible for the last known shipment of methamphetamine to Vermont.

  

Distribution

DEA reports that methamphetamine is rarely distributed in Vermont. The last methamphetamine seizure in the state was in 1999.


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