“Meth is as big of a problem– maybe bigger than we’ve ever seen before.”
Those are words from the North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.
He says about 6 to 7 years ago, the state was seeing 8 pounds a year in seizures. Then, in the last three years, the Narcotics Taskforce confiscated about 12 pounds a year.
But in just the first quarter of 2020, Stenehjem says 8 pounds have already been seized, putting the peace garden state in a position to far surpass its previous records.
“If that continues as it is, that’ll be 32 pounds. That’s over $3 million of street value of the product. And we’re seeing too that the value, the street price of meth, is going down. And so of course, simple supply and demand tells you when the price goes down, the demand can go up. It’s more readily available. That means more potential addicts, or it means that the people who are using, are using more and more,” he explained.
The AG says, in North Dakota, most other crime revolves around the drug trade. He says burglaries, unfortunately, often are committed to feed a drug habit.
