Methamphetamine

St. Louis Boarding House Explosion Possibly a Meth Lab Fire, Burn Victim "Evasive, Police Say

Police say that a 44-year-old man suffered burns on his face and chest from a fire over the weekend, which occurred in the basement kitchen of a boarding house in the Shaw neighborhood. The victim, however, was "evasive" in detailing how he was burned, police say. And that might be because the e ... More >>

Meth Explosion Sends Suspect Running Naked Through Streets

Police say they've located the nude man seen fleeing an explosion early Wednesday morning in Farmington. The suspect, a 22-year-old male from the nearby eastern Missouri town of Bismarck, checked himself into Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis last week and is undergoing treatment for severe burns ... More >>

Meth: Anti-Smurfing Campaign Comes to St. Louis To Discourage Illegal Medicine Sales

St. Louis police want to make it a little bit harder for cooks to make meth -- by scaring those who illegally secure ingredients for them. The state attorney general's office partnered with the metro police department in announcement yesterday that a so-called "Anti-Smurfing Campaign" is coming to ... More >>

Meth: Missouri Launches Anti-Smurfing Campaign to Curb Sale of Medicines to Cooks

Missouri, the Meth Capital of the United States, this week launched a campaign against purchasing cold and allergy medicines and selling them to methamphetamine cooks. It's the "anti-smurfing" initiative. "Missouri law enforcement officials will tell you that smurfing is one of the biggest chall ... More >>

Meth Lab Hotel? Extended Stay In Springfield, Missouri Site of Two Busts in Two Weeks

As we reported last week, Missouri once again had the most meth lab busts of any state in the country last year -- and folks in Springfield are apparently working to make sure the state is a winner in 2013, too. We've got the details on not one, but two, reportedly unrelated meth busts in the same ... More >>

Photos: Top Twelve Craziest Meth Busts In Missouri, The Meth Capital Of The U.S.

In case you missed it, Missouri is, yet again, number one in the nation for meth lab busts, new data shows. This is not much of a surprise to law enforcement officials in the state who deal with this every day -- especially those in Jefferson County, which has the second highest concentration of met ... More >>

Missouri Leads the Nation in Meth Labs (Again), Jefferson County Second Highest In Country

Toward the start of every new year, the Drug Enforcement Agency adds up the number of "meth incidents" from the previous year and divvies them up by state. More than once, Missouri has come out the state with the highest number of meth lab busts. The latest figures show that 2012 was another banner ... More >>

Video: Illinois Family Accused of Running Meth Lab Is Actually Just Making Maple Syrup

Yesterday, we told you about the consequences of running a secret math lab in your home -- one being that you might accidentally destroy your home, as was the case with a Madison County fire-turned-drug-bust. But today, we have for you a different meth lesson -- one about the dangers of doing someth ... More >>

Madison County Meth Lab: "He Heard a Loud Pop...And Found [His] Home Was On Fire"

Here's one reason to maybe not operate a meth lab out of your home. On Sunday, the Madison County Sheriff's Office and a local fire department were called to respond to a residential fire in Cottage Hills, Illinois. Thankfully, no one was harmed, but an investigation revealed that the the cause wa ... More >>

Want to Make Some Meth? Not With This Sinus Medication...

Looking to abuse your mind and body by cooking up some meth? Better skip the latest nasal decongestant on the St. Louis market: Zephrex-D. Several area pharmacies (including Walgreens, Walmart, and CVS) started carrying "Zephrex-D", a new sinus med from a Maryland Heights-based drug company called ... More >>

Eight-Year-Old Finds Mobile Meth Lab Behind East Carondelet Home

An unidentified home owner in East Carondelet, Illinois, allowed some family members and friends to stay at her house, but soon grew suspicious of what they were doing. One of the early signs of trouble was when her children heard a "loud boom" in the woods. Then her eight-year-old child discovered ... More >>

Red Roof Inn: Free Local Calls, Continental Breakfast and a Meth Lab

So, in addition to worrying about who's effluvia is all over the bed sheets and if there's a spy-cam under the sink when you check in to a motel, now you have to be aware that the folks in the room by the ice machine could be running a meth lab.

Missouri Meth Lab Seizures Hit New Record; State Leads Nation Again

Confiscated meth equipment.​Once again, Missouri has the dubious distinction of leading the nation in the number of meth labs seized in 2011. Law enforcement uncovered 2,096 labs in Missouri last year, an increase of six percent over the 1,960 discovered in 2010. Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and O ... More >>

Shake-and-Bake Meth Becomes Run-and-Gun

​Bootheel Drug Task Force investigators were in Steele, MO, earlier this week watching a farm house suspected of being an illegal drug manufacturing operation when a vehicle left. The agents pursued the vehicle, which stopped in the middle of the road and then disgorged its driver, who took off on ... More >>

Kindergartener Brings Mom's Meth, Crack Pipe to Show-and-Tell

Mommy calls this her "little helper."​Here's yet further proof that Missouri lives up to its billing as the "Meth Capital of the United States": A kindergartner in western Missouri recently brought his mom's crack pipe and $3,700 worth of crystal meth to his school's show-and-tell. According to KC ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Way to Solve the Meth Problem

Today's comment comes from reader jdub, in response to our story about how some Missouri counties are looking to make Sudafed and other pseudoephedrine-based products available only to customers with a prescription. Supporters say the restrictions will make it harder for tweakers to use the stuff to ... More >>

Meth Lab Used as Molotov Cocktail Against Missouri Sheriff's Deputy

openclipart.orgMeth: Not just for getting high anymore. ​Here at Riverfront Times we've chronicled just how dangerous the "shake-and-bake" method of making meth can be, with junkies creating the highly flammable drug inside plastic bottles. Now comes the first incident we know of in which a mobile ... More >>

Missouri Senator Rob Schaaf on Meth Lab Law: "I Will Stand Up There and Talk Until This Bill Dies"

State Senator Rob Schaaf​Meth problem or no meth problem, Missouri State Senator Rob Schaaf thinks you deserve the right to take your Sudafed -- without seeing a doctor first.Daily RFT checked in yesterday with Schaaf, a part-time family physician/ state senator representing northwest Missouri. We ... More >>

Wildwood Latest Missouri City to Require Prescription for Pseudoephedrine

Thirty-one Missouri cities now ban the over-the-counter sales of these drugs. When will all of Missouri follow?​The west St. Louis County 'burb of Wildwood last night became the 31st Missouri city to ban over-the-counter sales of psuedoephedrine. The drug -- found in such cold medicine as Sudafed ... More >>

Meth-Fighting Missouri Pseudoephedrine Ban Could Face Filibuster

Sudafed shouldn't need a 'scrip, says State Senator Rob Schaaf.​In hopes of combating the state's never-ending meth problem, state legislators have been pushing a bill to make cold medicines that include pseudoephedrine available by prescription only.That would include Sudafed, Claritin and a host ... More >>

Glenn Beck Talks About - and to - Cupcakes

Rumors of the death of the cupcake fad have swirled for months. With five minutes of video, Glenn Beck kills them dead. In an attempt to explain inflation and treasury bonds on his Fox News show last night, Beck substituted flag-studded cupcakes for gold so that us simple folk might understand. ... More >>

Missouri Leads Nation in Meth Lab Busts -- Again

Photo: Jennifer SilverbergMeth lab detritus seized last year in Franklin County.​For the tenth year in a row, Missouri led the nation in the number of meth lab seizures last year. In 2010, Missouri law enforcement busted 1,960 meth labs, a 10 percent increase over the 1,774 busts in 2009 and a 53 ... More >>

Missouri's New Growth Industry: Pill Brokers

Hot new career opportunity: Popping blister packs in your car.​Unemployment got you down? There's a hot new career opportunity in Missouri -- and all it takes is a little initiative and a tiny amount of overhead.Enough overhead, that is, to buy cold medicine.As the AP reports in a story out today, ... More >>

Dominic Orlando: De Soto Man Busted for Home Meth Lab

Dominic Orlando: His chemistry skills caught up with him yesterday.​Dominic Orlando, 47, was arrested by Jefferson County Sheriff's deputies yesterday and charged with possession of chemicals with intent to distribute.And, this being Missouri, we're not talking about calcium chloride or ferrous su ... More >>

Jay Nixon and Chris Koster Propose Pseudoephedrine Prescription to Cure Missouri's Meth Problem

Image viaLet's hope meth cooks don't have health insurance​The Show-Me State's governor and attorney general announced today that they support a law to require a doctor's prescription to obtain pseudoephedrine, an ingredient found in several types of cold medicine that can be used to manufacture m ... More >>

How to Solve Missouri's Meth Problem

Image viaElectronic tracking of cold meds can't stop Shake'n Bake​Remember that fancy new electronic database Missouri pharmacies were required to install earlier this year so police could have access to personal information of people who buy cold medicine that contains the drug pseudoephedrine, t ... More >>

Missouri on Pace to Lead Nation in Meth Lab Seizures -- Again

Image ViaA "shake and bake" lab.​It's looking like 2010 will mark the 10th consecutive year that Missouri leads the nation in the number meth labs confiscated by police. As the Southeast Missourian reports today, Missouri law enforcement has seized more than 1,400 meth labs through September -- an ... More >>

St. Louis: Worst Teeth in the Nation According to Magazine

St. Louis: Gateway to tooth decay?​Updated 2:45 p.m. with response from Greater St. Louis Dental Society. We figured our meth labs were to blame. Though as it turns out, researchers at Men's Health didn't even account for Missouri being the No. 1 state in the nation for illegal meth labs when they ... More >>

Seven Arrested in Jefferson County Meth Lab Bust

Meth: It does a body bad.​A meth lab seizure in Jefferson County last week has led to drug charges against five area men and two females. According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, deputies arrived last Thursday to a residence in the 12000 block of Big Pine Place in rural Desoto aft ... More >>

Steven Martin: The Second-Most Disturbing Mugshot You'll See This Week

Jesse Driskill, meet Steven Martin:Image sourceWink Wink Steven Martin is in the Clink​Martin (definitely not the banjo-strumming comedian, as the immaculate mugshot above makes clear) was indicted earlier this week for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. A whole lot of methamphetamine.

Police Discover 35 Meth Labs in One Home In Franklin County

Image sourceNeither delicious nor nutritious​Ok, "meth lab" might be a bit of a misnomer in this case. The tweaker in question was using the "shake and bake" recipe for cooking the drug. The Franklin County Narcotics Enforcement Unit reportedly found at least 35 plastic bottles containing residue ... More >>

Shots and Books

Michael McPherson & Natasha Spence: Franklin County Couple Allegedly Tried to Booby-Trap Meth Lab With Nine Pounds of C-4 Explosive

Image sourceAnd...boom goes the dynamite.​What happens when a military demolitions expert comes home from Iraq and starts hanging out with his meth-cooking high school buddies?According to an indictment in Eastern Missouri Federal Court and a local narcotics detective, he tries to booby-trap a met ... More >>

Missouri Poised to Lead Nation in Meth Lab Busts For Fourth Straight Year

Courtesy of the Missouri State Highway PatrolMissouri busted 1,776 meth labs last year and we're on pace for more than 1,800 in 2010.​Missouri has already done the three-peat -- leading the nation in meth lab seizures for three consecutive years, including a whopping 1,774 busts last year, nearly ... More >>

Dennis Powell: Hannibal Man Sentenced for Drugs Busted Trying to Bring Pot to Prison

hannibal.netDennis Powell​If at first you don't succeed, fail, fail again. That's the lesson learned from Dennis R. Powell. Powell, 19, was being processed at the Marion County Jail in Palmyra, Missouri, this month on a previous drug charge when authorities say they discovered marijuana on the new ... More >>

Are Some Missouri Counties Ignoring Meth Labs?

Provided by the Missouri State Highway PatrolMissouri meth labs in 2009. Click for larger image.​While the focus of this week's RFT feature is meth lab explosions and the impact that injured meth cooks are having on hospitals across the Midwest, the story also touches on the reasons why meth has r ... More >>

The potentially explosive "shake-and-bake" method is burning its way through meth land

The Best Video of a Meth Addict Jumping Into A Frozen Pond You'll See Today

Image via National Geographic A suspected Madison County meth maker took a polar bear plunge while attempting to elude police​Ahhh, methamphetamine. It makes human beings do some amazing things -- amazingly dumb things.Take the case of 50-year-old Robert C. Kelly of Madison County, Illinois ... More >>

Missouri: Nation's Meth Capital, Again

Did ya here? We're No. 1!​Missouri has once again been ranked as the nation's biggest meth-producing state based on the number of drug labs busted last year. According to Missouri Highway Patrol figures published today in the Post-Dispatch, law enforcement seized 1,774 meth labs in 2009 -- up 20 p ... More >>

Drug Companies Fight Missouri Effort to Make Sudafed a Prescription Drug

Mmm, yummy! The building blocks of meth.​Missouri state representative Scott Lipke (R-Jackson) wants to limit the sale of medications such as Sudafed and Clairtin-D only to consumers with a doctor's prescription.Lipke's bill (H.B. 1210), introduced to the General Assembly last week, aims to curb t ... More >>

Vote for Ass Clown of the Week!

​Another week, another round Darwin-defying cretins who made local headlines. You know the rules: Vote for the person you feel was the biggest idiot this week. 1. John Henry: A Missouri man arrested this weekend for possession of drug paraphernalia and what looked to be tools and supplies for a na ... More >>

Message To Cop Lands Meth Head in Jail; Suspect Wrote Insult on Camo Jumpsuit

Montgomery County JailJohn Henry sans camo jumpsuit​Dumb and dumber were driving through rural Missouri just before midnight last Saturday when a Wellsville cop pulled over their vehicle. Upon questioning the two men, the police officer noticed one of them -- John Henry, 28 -- with an unusual mess ... More >>

Oh, Meth! New Campaign Against Meth Use Hopefully as Catchy as Old One

As we reported last week, U.S. "Drug Czar" Gil Kerlikowske is in St. Louis today to unveil the White House Office of National Drug Policy's new anti-meth campaign. Here's hoping the campaign is as good as the last one featured here.  Continue on to view the full press release of today's announ ... More >>

U.S. Drug Czar to Unveil New Anti-Meth Campaign in Drug's Hotspot: St. Louis

​Whatever your feelings about the Obama administration, you can't say that the president's office ignores St. Louis. Obama chose to visit the nearby suburb of Arnold for his 100th day in office. A couple month's later the prez returned to St. Louis to throw out the first pitch at the All-Star Game ... More >>

Local Motion: Marcheski, Lenarsky and DaBreezy

Tuesday, October 3. Creepy Crawl, (3524 Washington Boulevard)

Film Openings

Week of February 23, 2006

Too Many Cooks

Missouri’s days as the nation’s Meth Lab Capital are numbered. So what’s next?

The Great Imitator

The scourge of syphilis re-emerges, deadlier than before

Methmaker, Methmaker, Make Me Some Meth

Unreal finds good meth-lab locations and talks to a young lady making her way in the world (with the help of semi-nude photos); Bill Haas gets honest; and we (and Denny's) find several ways to play with our food

INTERSTELLAR OVERDRIVE

With a nod to "Harper's Index," the rundown on the Interstellar Dreamfest