Busted Framingham Meth Lab One Of 9 Across MA: Map

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Methamphetamine, the powerful and highly addictive stimulant that gained national fame with the hit AMC show "Breaking Bad," is a serious problem in the United States and even made its way into Framingham. A 2017 survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 5.4 percent of people 12 and older had tried meth at least once in their lifetime. That number was 3 percent for adults 18 to 25 and 6.4 percent for adults ages 26 and older.

The problem is so widespread that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration tracks addresses where law enforcement agencies reportedly found chemicals or other items suggesting the site is home to either clandestine drug labs or dumpsites. On the DEA's list of addresses is one Framingham location. According to the DEA, a clandestine drug lab or dumpsite was located at 70 Howe Street in August of 2008 and dismantled. Back in 2015 a couple was arrested for operating a meth lab in a tent in the woods in Saxonville— the DEA data does not include this incident.

While the DEA registry doesn’t allow you to search by address, the folks at Rehabs.com took the data and created an interactive map so you can see the drug den nearest you. According to the map, there have been only nine clandestine labs in Massachusetts.

Meth is usually seen as a white, bitter-tasting powder or a pill. Crystal meth, meanwhile, is a form of the drug that looks like glass fragments or shiny, bluish-white rocks. Chemically, it’s similar to amphetamines, a drug used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy.

Meth abusers often experience mental, social and medical problems, including memory loss, aggressive or psychotic behavior, heart damage, malnutrition and, as you’re probably already aware, severe dental problems, colloquially called “meth mouth.”

Rehabs.com is a website developed and maintained by Recovery Brands, LLC, a subsidiary of American Addiction Centers, Inc. The addiction center provides both residential and outpatient addiction treatment services. According to the site’s analysis of DEA data, meth labs are concentrated in the American Heartland. Missouri has the most labs with 27.6 per 100,000 residents.

Here are the five states with the most meth labs per capita:

1. Missouri, 27.6
2. Arkansas, 24.7
3. Oklahoma, 23.7
4. Mississippi, 21.2
5. Indiana, 20.1

Meanwhile, states in the Northeast tend to have the least meth labs per capita. That includes Connecticut, which has the least of any at 0.06 labs per 100,000 residents. Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland rounded out the bottom five.

“Breaking Bad’s” last season premiered on July 15, 2012 and concluded Sept. 29, 2013. Interestingly, 2012 and 2013 represented the two years with the highest number of net grams of meth seized between 2007 and 2016, according to Rehabs.com. In 2012, more than 2.4 million grams were seized. A year later, that number was just over 2 million. In contrast, that number was about half in 2016 at about 1 million net grams.

The report used data from the DEA’s National Clandestine Laboratory Register and Drug Seizure Database from 2007 through 2016. There were nearly 30,000. These are not all the clandestine laboratories in America, the authors noted. These are only the labs the DEA uncovered.

The authors added that they used data related to the state where the substance was obtained, as well as to the method of acquisition, drug name, net weight, potency, calendar year collected, and value of the seized meth.

“Drug production often entails some agricultural element; poppy, cocoa, or marijuana cultivation can utilize vast tracts of land,” the authors wrote. “But because meth can be made using inexpensive chemicals found in over-the-counter medications, it lends itself to clandestine manufacture inside inconspicuous buildings.”

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.