A Look at Montana’s Drug Use Trends

By Matthew Frank, 10-13-08

Methamphetamine use is down, cocaine is coming back and Montana continues to see a boom in prescription painkiller abuse, writes Zachary Franz in the Great Falls Tribune.

On meth:

Meth-producing labs seem to have been virtually eradicated from the state. In 2002, drug task forces in Montana found 122 meth labs, according to a report issued in April by the Department of Justice. That number has decreased every year since, with just seven labs discovered last year. ...

Statewide, statistics point to a drop in use of the drug. The number of employees who tested positive for meth in workplace drug tests dropped by 72 percent between 2005 and 2007, compared to a 44 percent drop nationally, according to the DOJ report.

Officers familiar with drug use in Cascade County say progress has been slow in the fight against meth.

“It’s tough to say fewer people are using it,” said Sgt. Jeff Beecroft, a detective with the Great Falls Police Department. “I would say it has leveled out. It’s not getting any worse.”

On cocaine:

Many drug users previously switched from cocaine to meth because meth was cheaper and gave a longer-lasting high. But the prices of the two drugs have balanced in recent years.

“Cocaine is now almost neck-and-neck with meth as far as prices,” [Sgt. John] Stevens said. “As silly as it seems, it’s economics.”

Many drug users also are making the switch because they believe cocaine is a safer drug, Stevens said. They’re right, according to [Attorney General Mike] McGrath.

On prescription painkillers:

Montana’s most disturbing trend is the continued increase in prescription pill abuse, law enforcement officials said.

While meth is blamed for killing seven people in Montana in 2007, the state crime lab attributed 141 deaths to four major prescription painkillers: hydrocordone, oxycodone, fentanyl and methadone.

“Those numbers are quite staggering,” McGrath said. “We don’t have anything like this with other drugs, in terms of deaths.”

That trend started about four years ago, and has spread quickly across the state, Mercer said. ...

The pills aren’t imported to Montana by organized criminal networks, instead they are handed out by hundreds of pharmacists across the state. The pills may go to people in real need, or to “doctor shoppers,” who deceive physicians into prescribing unnecessary drugs.

More.