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KBIA’s Health & Wealth Desk covers the economy and health of rural and underserved communities in Missouri and beyond. The team produces a weekly radio segment, as well as in-depth features and regular blog posts. The reporting desk is funded by a grant from the University of Missouri, and the Missouri Foundation for Health.Contact the Health & Wealth desk.

Missouri's meth addiction, part one

Leah Shafer
/
Flikr

For the past decade, Missouri has claimed the dubious distinction of the most meth busts of any state in the nation. In this week's Health & Wealth update, reporter Kyle Deas has the first in a two-part-series on Missouri's unique meth addiction.

Overall in the United States, about 80 percent of the meth on the market is produced in Mexico and then smuggled across the border. But in Missouri, that statistic is flipped on its head -- the vast majority of the meth on the market in Missouri is also produced in Missouri.

That's part of the reason that Missouri has lead the nation in meth lab busts every year since 2001. Last year, there were 1,744 busts in Missouri, or about five per day. California, which has six times the population, had just 89.