From Deseret News archives:
Meth arrests soar
Only Arkansas matches Utah's 100% increase
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A National Association of Counties survey of 500 law enforcement agencies showed Utah and Arkansas as the only states where meth-related arrests went up 100 percent over the past 12 months.
"How come that doesn't surprise me?" said Marjean Searcy, coordinator of the Salt Lake Meth Initiative.
Narcotics officers have become much more efficient in working drug-related crimes, Searcy said.
Utah's dramatic increase in meth-related arrests goes against what appears to be a slowing trend in the nationwide meth epidemic.
The NACo asked counties in 45 states about the percentage increase in arrests during the past five years, the past three years and the past year. While 88 percent reported increases in the five-year period, only 67 percent reported increases the past year.
Utah and Arkansas were the only states to report 100 percent increases over all three periods.
Methamphetamine abuse is Utah's biggest drug problem, especially among women, the majority of whom have young children.
Salt Lake Police Sgt. Ryan Atack, who heads the narcotics squad, said meth use hit epidemic proportions in Utah seven years ago.
"I don't know that it's gotten any worse," he said. "It's still our number one problem."
The Deseret Morning News, in a six-part series called "Generation Meth," last November examined how meth addiction burdens courts, prisons and social services and devastates families and children.
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