Since the 1980’s California has experienced high levels of methamphetamine-related incidents of violence and clandestine lab activity.

Lab Counts: According to the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, approximately 3,063 clandestine labs were seized by the state and/or other law enforcement agencies in the last five years. The number for 1998 alone, was 1,006.

Treatment Stats.: In San Diego County, meth is reportedly the most commonly abused drug for persons entering treatment programs. It accounts for approximately 45% of treatment admissions.

Strategies: As the number of clandestine labs increased, it became apparent that proper equipment and training was necessary to address the health dangers associated with the labs. The California Environmental Protection Agency (CAL/EPA) developed a program in 1995 that relies on multidisciplinary cooperation in the clean-up process, including assistance from fire safety officials, health agency administrators, task forces and emergency medical services technicians.

Prevention: California has focused on an anti-methamphetamine media education campaign. Since 1998 a series of television, radio and billboard advertisements illustrate the degenerative effects of methamphetamine use, the impact of environmental devastation caused by meth labs, and the dangers posed to family members and neighbors wherever there are meth "cookers." The media campaign attempts to saturate the California public with information on the growing meth menace. The radio and billboard advertisements direct audiences to an interactive California state Web site, www.stopdrugs.org.

In January 1999, the California state attorney general’s office released two educational videos, in Spanish and English to educate the public on the dangers of meth. One video, Meth, the Great Deceiver, targets a teen audience and delivers facts and true anecdotes recounting the violence and destruction stemming from use of meth. The second video, Where Meth Goes, Violence and Destruction Follow!, targets a general audience and outlines violence, child abuse, social and economic damage caused by the drug. Complimentary copies of the videos and companion guides were sent to more than 3,000 law enforcement agencies, district attorney offices, public and continuation high schools, county offices of education, probation departments, school/law enforcement partnership groups, county drug and alcohol program administrators, and various community-based nonprofit organizations.

CALMS: With funds appropriated by the federal 1998 Commerce, Justice and Senate Appropriations Bill, the California Department of Justice implemented the California Methamphetamine Strategy (CALMS) which included plans for increasing the numbers of law enforcement, intelligence and forensic agents, providing training and safety equipment for special agents and law enforcement, and developing more public education and prevention materials to schools and community organizations.

Video: KBPS Radio and Television (San Diego, CA) released a documentary titled, Methamphetamine: From the Streets of San Diego, which highlights how meth is linked with a recent burst of high-profile violent crimes. This video is available by contacting KPBS at (800) 266-5727.

For more information about the California Initiative, see The Rising Methamphetamine Crisis: An Examination of State Responses, published in Policy and Practice, a quarterly publication of the National Criminal Justice Association, www.sso.org/ncja.

Or contact: Ron Gravitt, special agent supervisor, California State Attorney General’s Office, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Program, 4949 Broadway Street, Rm. C-215, Sacramento, CA 94280, phone: (916) 227-4044, www.stopdrugs.org.