Missouri: Nation's Meth Capital, Again
| Did ya here? We're No. 1! |
According to Missouri Highway Patrol figures published today in the Post-Dispatch, law enforcement seized 1,774 meth labs in 2009 -- up 20 percent from the 1,487 confiscated in 2008.
Missouri outpaced the No. 2 state -- Indiana -- which had 1,096 meth lab busts in 2009. Jefferson County, Missouri, led the state with 227 labs confiscated last year.
The news comes as Missouri legislature considers a bill that would require pseudoephedrine -- the key ingredient for meth -- to be sold only as a prescription.
The Post-Dispatch reports that nationwide the number of meth lab busts increased 27 percent last year. One of the reasons for the surge could be a pseudoephedrine ban that went into effect last year in Mexico that has weakened the quality of the meth produced in that country and shipped to the United States.
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