Missouri meth lab seizures down sharply in 2016

Missouri is seeing a startling decline in methamphetamine lab seizures, but it isn’t because users are turning away from the drug.

Statistics provided by the Missouri State Highway Patrol show just 172 meth lab seizures through September, on pace for around 230 seizures for the year. That’s less than half the 507 seizures in 2015, less than a quarter of the 1,045 seizures in 2014, and just a fraction of the peak years for homemade meth in the mid-2000s.

Narcotics officers credit efforts that have made it difficult to obtain cold pills containing pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in meth-making.

But experts don’t believe meth use is on the decline. It’s just that users are now more likely to buy meth imported from Mexico rather than make their own.