Methamphetamine is the most widely-abused illicit drug in the world, other than cannabis.
[Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2004 World Drug Report.]

Methamphetamine is considered the fastest-growing illicit drug threat in the United States.
[Source: United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 54, no. 14 (April 15, 2005).]

An estimated 20 to 30 percent of known meth laboratories are discovered because of fires and explosions. [Source: United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 54, no. 14 (April 15, 2005).]

An estimated 20 percent of meth laboratories have children present.
[Source: United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 54, no. 14 (April 15, 2005).]

The number of meth labs seized by law enforcement authorities in Illinois grew from 24 labs in 1997, to 403 labs in 2000, to 1,099 labs in 2003.
[Sources: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, “Methamphetamine in Illinois: An Examination of an Emerging Drug” (Research Bulletin, January 2003); and Illinois Attorney General’s Office, MethNet Web page at www.IllinoisAttorneyGeneral.gov (using data from the Illinois State Police and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration).]

The number of methamphetamine submissions to the Illinois State Police crime laboratories increased from 628 in 1998 to 3,250 in 2003 – more than a five-fold increase. The number of counties submitting meth also increased during that period, from 73 in 1998 to 96 in 2003. [Source: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, “Just the Facts: Special Projects – Methamphetamine,” on-line report at www.icjia.state.il.us (2005).]

The number of treatment admissions relating to methamphetamine abuse in Illinois jumped from 97 in 1994 to 3,582 in 2003. [Source: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, “Just the Facts: Special Projects – Methamphetamine,” on-line report at www.icjia.state.il.us (2005).]

In state fiscal year 2003, rural counties accounted for the vast majority (79 percent) of persons sentenced to prison for meth-related offenses. [ Source: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, “Just the Facts: Special Projects – Methamphetamine,” on-line report at www.icjia.state.il.us (2005).]

Methamphetamine is the only drug for which rural areas in Illinois have higher rates of drug seizures and treatment admissions than urban areas. [Source: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, “Just the Facts: Special Projects – Methamphetamine,” on-line report at www.icjia.state.il.us (2005).]