The Cost of Meth

The cost of meth varies across the United States. The estimated cost of making meth is $100 an ounce, with a street value of approximately $800 an ounce. On the distribution level, the cost of meth can range from $3,500 per pound in parts of California and Texas to $21,000 per pound in the southeastern and northeastern regions of the country. One methamphetamine addict told authorities her habit started at $10-$25 a day and grew to over $250 a day.

While cheap for the people who make it, meth is costly for taxpayers. The OSBI estimates that it costs an average of $2,000 to clean up a lab. Many law enforcement agencies including the OSBI contract out for cleaning services. The OSBI spends $1 million on cleaning services each year.

According to a new study, employers are losing thousands of dollars a year due to meth use by employees. Researchers extrapolated that each meth user costs an employer an average of $47,500 annually. Meth use by employees was estimated to cost just over $21 million annually.

The study examined the six major categories of cost meth users impose on employers: Increased absenteeism, lost productivity, increased turnover, increased employee theft, increased worker compensation claims and increased healthcare premium costs. Many workers use methamphetamine to stay awake for second jobs or to sharpen concentration. But use of the drug ultimately costs both workers and employers big.

Positive drug tests for amphetamines in the workplace jumped 6 percent last year and 44 percent in 2003, even as use of other drugs appeared to decline. "Drug abuse in the workplace is decreasing, but ironically, methamphetamine positives are increasing," said Mark de Bernardo, executive director of the Institute for a Drug-Free Workplace in Washington.

According to a new RAND Corporation study, the economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States reached $23.4 billion in 2005, including the burden of addiction, premature death, drug treatment and many other aspects of the drug.

The cost of meth varies by area:

• Denver - $25 per one-quarter gram (injectors usually do not purchase less than one-quarter gram)
   
• Minn./ St. Paul - $100 per gram
   
• St. Louis - $37 to $100 per gram
   
• San Diego - $50 to $80 per gram (purity in 1997 was 20 to 40 percent)
   
• Seattle - $80 to $120 per gram (purity was 35 to 90 percent)
   
• San Francisco - $60 to $100 per gram

Here is the average cost of meth per pound in the U.S.:

In Alabama the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 136,080
In Arizona the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 45,280
In Arkansas the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 24,000
In California the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 10,000
In Colorado the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 8,600.00
In Florida the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 14,000
In Georgia the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 45,000.00
In Hawaii the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 30,000
In Idaho the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $16,000
In Illinois the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 36,000
In Indiana the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 20,000
In Iowa the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 52,580 (98% pure)
In Kansas the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 32,000
In Kentucky the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 67,200
In Louisiana the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 51,700
In Michigan the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 18,000
In Minnesota the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 41,325
In Mississippi the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 35,800
In Missouri the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 45,700
In Montana the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 45 - 68,000
In Nebraska the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 47,000
In Nevada the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 25,600
In New Hampshire the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 75,500
In New Jersey the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 51,600
In New Mexico the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 27,000 to $ 36,000
In North Carolina the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 40,085
In North Dakota the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 24,000 - $ 32,000
In Ohio the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 45,300
In Oklahoma the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 53,333
In Oregon the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 23,634
In Pennsylvania the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 36,000
In South Carolina the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 45,000
In South Dakota the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 15,000
In Tennessee the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 50,000
In Texas, the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 40,000
In Utah, the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 12,000
In Virginia the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 44,800
In Washington (state) the cost of meth per pound is reported as: $ 33,000

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