| It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to compute the
total dollar loss associated with methamphetamine. Although the financial losses are significant, we must not
overlook many of the other related costs.
Some of the personal costs include injury or death, family
disruption, and life chances and reputation to name a few.
In addition, we often overlook public costs related to such
issues as pollution and clean up, legal fees, imprisonment and
treatment. We begin this
section with a brief discussion of the economics of meth manufacturing
and distribution. We will
then move to an examination of human, financial and environmental costs.
The
Economics of Meth Assuming the precursor materials are purchased, except the
anhydrous ammonia, the total investment needed for a 1 oz cook of meth
is approximately $200. The
finished product is then diluted, cut or “stepped on” and becomes
two to three ounces to be sold for somewhere between $1,200 and $1,600
an ounce. As you can see,
the profit margin in meth production is tremendous, however, many cooks
are users themselves and sell off a portion of the cook to live on and to
purchase precursor ingredients for the next cook. The user/cook is
influenced by his or her drug to cook on a regular basis and seldom
realizes the profits associated with cocaine or heroin production.
Remember some cooks steal precursor ingredients or trade off
finished product for the precursor agents and to obtain an even greater
profit margin.
On the street, meth is commonly sold in ¼ gram, ½ gram, 1
gram and 2.5 gram increments. To
better understand how much meth we are talking about, go to your
cupboard and examine an individual packet of sugar substitute.
The little packages of sugar substitute weigh approximately one
gram. If the packet were
filled with meth it would sell for approximately $100 on the street.
Meth distributors frequently sell “eight balls” of meth that is 1/8
of an ounce or approximately 2.5 grams and sells for approximately $250.
The ¼ gram portions sell for $25-30 and the ½ gram bags run
$50-60. The smaller
portions are seldom weighed and the purchaser is most likely buying a
smaller amount of meth than what he or she actually paid for. The daily costs for meth users vary according to personal
tolerances and frequency of use. Heavily
addicted users indicate they spend as much as $400 a day to meet their
habit. Obviously, they will
have periods where they “crash” and will not use but if we modestly
assume they are using ½ of the month they need $5,000 to $6,000 to
purchase their meth. The obvious question becomes where do they get their money?
Very few can afford that kind of habit and even fewer can afford
it without changing their lifestyle.
Meth addiction generates property crime and thus costs the public
in terms of losses and increased enforcement.
Families also bear some of the costs associated with use and
addiction. Users will deny
themselves and their family basic necessities to liberate income for
their addiction. Although the profit margins associated with meth are huge, the users and cooks operate under the false assumption that they won’t be caught and/or they are only hurting themselves. Cost
to the User and the User's Family Our ability to calculate costs associated with meth is
further complicated by the number of accidents meth users experience and
the costs related to those accidents.
The effects of meth on motor skills places users at high risks
during activities such as driving, operating machinery or in the
performance of other activities that require acute motor perception. In
addition, we previously noted that meth users and cookers are also prone
to heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage, premature death, and overdose.
Like the accidents, several financial and human costs are
associated with meth-related illnesses. The last category of health related medical costs is the
involuntary or accidental consumption.
There are documented cases where children have been severely
poisoned by unknowingly consuming meth or drinking liquids they assumed
to be soda but were acids stored in plastic 2 liter bottles used in the
manufacturing process. Treatment
for these types of accidents can be expensive and can necessitate long
hospital stays. Meth users, dealers, and manufacturers who are apprehended,
convicted and imprisoned generate human costs for themselves and for
other family members. The
imposition of a prison sentence not only takes year’s out of the
criminal’s life, it leaves him or her with a permanent criminal record
and strongly impacts the ability to legally carry or own a firearm, join
the military or to pursue desired professional careers.
Under some conditions, personal assets, such as vehicles, houses
and other personal valuables, obtained through meth profits may be
confiscated and sole at public auction.
Convicted meth offender will also undergo the embarrassment
of having his or her name in the newspaper, on the air waves or having
crime scene tape or crime stickers (make reference to the scanned
sticker) placed on their house. Some contend the meth criminal is
unconcerned about such embarrassments. Unfortunately, those same
embarrassments are shared with family members despite the meth criminal’s
lack of feeling or remorse. Another identifiable human costs associated with conviction
and imprisonment is the cost of family disruption. In some regions, manufacturing in the presence of children is
deemed child endangerment and the children are removed from the
household immediately and a hearing on the suitability of the parents
will be initiated. In other
instances, one or both parents are convicted and incarcerated and the
children are placed with other family members, in foster care or are put
up for adoption. The costs, both human and financial, affiliated with meth are far reaching. One must question if the euphoria from use or the financial gains from manufacturing are sufficient to negate all of the other costs mentioned in this discussion. Cost
to Public (Taxpayers) For almost forty years, states have been required to provide
legal counsel to indigents charged with a felony.
Many defendants charged with meth offenses do not have adequate
financial resources to hire a private attorney.
As a result, hundreds if not thousands of meth-related defendants
utilize the services of a public defender or a court-appointed attorney.
In either instance, budgets for such representation result from
tax revenue and the law-abiding public bears those costs.
The costs incurred by taxpayer’s increases with imprisonment. States vary in their reported annual costs of imprisonment
but estimates of $30,000 to $40,000 per year are reasonable.
Again, most states budget a significant portion of tax
revenues to their Department of Corrections and those not related to the
meth industry bear the costs of meth use. In some cases, meth users will be mandated to undergo
treatment as a condition of probation, incarceration or diversion. The
highly addictive nature of the drug requires long-term treatment by
professional counselors. As
previously mentioned, most meth criminals are legally indigent and the
costs for mandated treatment is third-partied to the general public.
Some scholars contend the meth industry increases prices of
precursor ingredients for the law-abiding public. As previously noted, many of the precursor ingredients are
conventional household materials with legitimate uses.
The increased demand resulting from the production of
methamphetamine gives the legitimate manufacturers justification to
increase retail prices. Others contend the theft of anhydrous ammonia
and ephedrine-based cold medicines also drives prices upward.
Retailers frequently increase consumer prices to offset losses
incurred from shoplifting and internal or external theft. The clean up costs of clandestine meth labs and illegally
disposed waste products are also tremendous.
Most states have established budget items or funds specifically
earmarked for meth clean up. Many
law enforcement officials report these funds are insufficient to cover
the annual costs associated with meth clean up.
The toxic nature of the labs necessitates federally mandated
safety precautions in the clean up and disposal of clandestine labs.
Like the legal fees, prison costs and treatment fees, most of the
cleanup costs are paid through general tax revenues. The meth industry also takes a high cost on the environment. Meth fires, explosions and the dumping of waste products are threats to environmental conditions. The illegal dumping of chemicals pollutes ground water and later attacks the food chain through hunting and fishing. If you remember from out earlier discussion, there are approximately six pounds of waster for every pound of manufactured methamphetamine. The larger clandestine labs produce hundreds of pounds of toxic waste and can affect rivers and lakes if dumped improperly.
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