Missouri is #1

Am I talking football? No. Am I talking basketball? No. Am I talking about any sport at all. No. I am talking about meth. Yes you heard me, #1 in meth. We see it on the news enough, but I am watching a documentary on A&E called Meth: A County in Crisis. It is talking about Methamphetamine in Franklin County. One would think it would be a hard number to come up with as they word it that Missouri is number one in clandestine meth labs, with more than twice the number of any other state. Hmm, if we are able to count them, then I am not so sure they are clandestine anymore. A sad situation to say the least.

Franklin County was named as one of the best places to live in Rural America at #31 in the top 100.



It is not that far from St. Louis. I have been through Franklin County a few times in my life. In the documentary they speak of the anhydrous ammonia being so readily available because of the agriculture in the area. As that is one of the key ingredients used in making meth I would think that Kansas would be a close 2nd behind Missouri, except that the population of that state is only about half of what it is in Missouri. I remember as I lived in a small town in Kansas for four years of my life (8-12 yrs old) that I have never seen as many anhydrous ammonia tanks in all my life as what I saw there. Needless to say farming is big in Kansas.

Description of the show from A&E:

In light of the current media blitz surrounding the national epidemic of Crystal Meth use, we go inside the very personal stories of this crisis. Travel to some small Midwestern towns in Missouri that are ravaged by the crystal meth epidemic. Includes a look at the entire community: from the wide range of addicts and their families, to the dealers, law enforcement officials, hospitals and pharmacies.