Methamphetamine (Meth)

Electronically tracking purchases of pseudoephedrine, a cold medicine used in making methamphetamine, will not stop production or use of meth, according to a drug policy expert.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said this week that a new cold medicine must be kept behind pharmacy counters because it can be used to make methamphetamine. The medicine, Zephrex-D, contains a new form of pseudoephedrine that the drug’s maker says is difficult to use to make meth.

A new national survey of drug use released last week finds heroin use is on the rise, while methamphetamine use is decreasing, Time.com reports.

Methamphetamine may raise the risk of dying from a fungal lung infection called cryptococcus, a new study in mice suggests.

Addiction treatment providers in northern California are finding it difficult to treat the many meth users seeking help, at a time when their resources are shrinking, The Fresno Bee reports.

The active ingredient in the synthetic drug known as bath salts could be more addictive than methamphetamine, a new study in rats suggests.

Methamphetamine is being smuggled across the border in record amounts at San Diego’s San Ysidro port of entry, the Associated Press reports. The increase in part reflects a shift in meth production to Mexico after the United States cracked down on domestic labs.

Methamphetamine use is on the rise in Minneapolis/St. Paul, while heroin remains the most widely used illegal drug in the Twin Cities area, according to a new report.

Law enforcement officials in West Virginia say they have seized 200 methamphetamine labs so far in 2013, and are on track to shatter last year’s record of 288 meth lab seizures.

Teenage girls may have a more difficult time than boys in quitting methamphetamine, a new study suggests.

Researchers at UCLA are studying a drug they hope will treat methamphetamine addiction, The Huffington Post reports. In a small study, the drug, Ibudilast, appeared to be safe and eased meth addiction.

Toddlers of women who used methamphetamine in pregnancy, who live in an unstable home environment, appear to have an abnormal response to stress, a new study suggests.

A bipartisan group of legislators from around the country has introduced a bill designed to reduce methamphetamine addiction.

Several entrepreneurs in New Mexico have created products with a methamphetamine theme, to cash in on the popularity of the TV hit “Breaking Bad,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

An experimental vaccine tested in rats largely protected the rodents from typical signs of methamphetamine intoxication, Medical News Today reports.

An online petition demanding the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation test homes for methamphetamine residue before selling them has received more than 200,000 signatures. The petition was started by a family who purchased a home from the agency that turned out to be a former meth lab.

A new study in Kentucky links sales of cold medicine products containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in methamphetamine, with meth lab busts. The study found each 13 grams of the decongestant sold per 100 residents was associated with one additional meth lab.

As United States law enforcement cracks down on methamphetamine producers, Mexican drug cartels are filling the void, according to the Associated Press. Cheap, very potent Mexican meth is appearing in American cities across the country.

More than 195,000 people have signed an online petition demanding the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, test the homes it sells for methamphetamine contamination.

Methamphetamine makers are importing raw powdered meth from Mexico, and refining it at “conversion labs” into the crystal form of the drug, The Wall Street Journal reports. In the past, the drug was produced in small U.S. labs, or shipped in its finished form from Mexico.

Community-based residential rehabilitation programs are only helpful in the short term for methamphetamine users, a new study suggests. Shorter detoxification programs are even less successful, Reuters reports.

Police in rural and suburban areas around the country are reporting finding drugs, money and guns linked to Mexican drug cartels, CNN reports.

South Asian countries, including Iran and Pakistan, are quickly establishing themselves as a major force in the global methamphetamine market, the Associated Press reports.

Use of drugs, particularly cocaine and methamphetamine, is on the decline in the United States, according to U.S. National Drug Control Policy Director R. Gil Kerlikowske. He spoke this week at the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission.

Mexican authorities have shut down a record number of industrial methamphetamine labs in recent months, Reuters reports. U.S. drug agents fear Mexico’s growing meth production will result in a sudden surge in supply in this country.