The costs associated with methamphetamine production, trafficking and use are significant.

The costs include caring for children affected by methamphetamine, lab clean-up, the cost of prisoners’ health care, and even consumer costs that are passed on to all of us.

Here are just a few examples:

In Kentucky alone, taxpayers spent $1.7 million on prisoners’ teeth. 80% of these costs cover treatment and decay. “Meth mouth” is a form of tooth decay resulting from users’ neglect. This amount is double the amount of non-prisoner dental treatment. In an interview with KWCH-TV, a prisoner admitted that meth caused him to lose all his teeth. “Your teeth go to nubs, they are pretty much gone…When you’re on meth nothing matters.” (KWCH-TV interview, November 7, 2005).

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services is reporting a record 7012 children in foster care, a thousand more than last year’s total. Parental neglect at the hands of methamphetamine users is contributing to this increase. (KOTV-TV, November 8, 2005).

According to an article in the Financial Times ( October 17, 2005), oil industry workers who abuse and produce methamphetamine have caused delays and increased costs to oil producers. This has resulted in project slowdowns and increases in the price of oil in the United States and around the world. Workers in states such as Texas, Colorado, Louisiana and Oklahoma have been fired for making or using methamphetamine.

An article appearing in HighCountryNews.org on October 3, 2005 illustrates the extent of the methamphetamine problem within the oil and gas rig workforce in rural Colorado. Meth-using workers in this dangerous industry increase the number of mistakes and accidents, endangering other workers and driving up the costs of operations.