Map Shows States With Most Meth Users
In 2021, 32,537 people died from an overdose involving psychostimulants, according to CDC data. It can cause extreme weight loss, addiction, and severe dental problems, anxiety, changes in brain structure and function; memory loss; sleeping problems; paranoia; violent behavior; and hallucinations. “A few decades ago, most of the meth consumed in the U.S. came from domestic producers utilizing more straightforward synthesis routes but at much smaller scales, often using ephedrines from cold medications. Data gathered by World Population Review from 2021 shows California has the highest number of meth users in the country, with 418,000 people. The Florida Office of Drug Control is coming up with a “regional strategy” and will work with the city of Atlanta to stop the flow of meth into the state, Janes said. Meanwhile, ice, a more potent form of methamphetamine, has been mixed with Strawberry Nestle Quick to target teenagers as young as 14, Combee said.
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Six labs were busted in Hillsborough County this year and two and three labs were shut down this year in Orange and Pasco counties respectively. But last year, no labs were found, and only one makeshift lab, found in a car May 23, has been shut down so far this year, said David Waller, a special investigator with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It’s a feel-good thought, but drug treatment counselor Libbie Combee said it’s not reality.
Map Shows States With Most Meth Users
Traffickers have adapted to the CMEA and found ways to circumvent the retail sales provisions of the law. Because the CMEA had no provision requiring log books to be electronically connected, traffickers began sending multiple individuals to several retail outlets throughout the day to make single purchases up to the daily limit. Methamphetamine is a highly addictive central nervous system stimulant that can be injected, snorted, smoked, or ingested orally. Methamphetamine users feel a short meth capital of florida yet intense “rush” when the drug is initially administered.
Many prefer instead to collect ephedrine from convenience stores in inner-city neighborhoods and poor sections of rural communities. Methamphetamine can be snorted, smoked, or injected and often isused in conjunction with other drugs, particularly pharmaceuticals. Drugtreatment providers report that most methamphetamine abusers in Florida snortthe drug, at least initially.
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- Most of Tennessee’s meth is brought in from Mexico in large bulk quantities.
- With a total of 144 incidents, Indiana has the third-highest meth prevalence.
- In 2006, Oregon became the first State to require a prescription to purchase pseudoephedrine products, which had been the case Federally before 1976.
- “I’m so very proud of our detectives and the agents and law enforcement officers who partnered with us to get these dangerous drugs and felons off the street.
- Administration officials are also working with the criminal justice system to reduce methamphetamine-related crime and improve public health and safety.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 36,251 people died from overdosing on psychostimulants in 2023. This is a slight increase compared to the previous year, which saw 35,550 deaths in 2022. The model calls for a yearlong outpatient rehabilitation program along with other treatments for methamphetamine addicts.
Nonetheless, thenumber of federal sentences involving methamphetamine in Florida increaseddramatically from 65 in FY1997 to 106 in FY2001. Crystal methamphetamine–also known as ice, crystal, glass,Tina, shabu, batu, hiropon, vidrio, ventana, and shards–is a colorless,odorless, higher purity form of d-methamphetamine. It is produced using a”washing” technique that involves dissolving powderedd-methamphetamine in a solvent such as acetone or denatured alcohol. The processresults in crystals that resemble glass fragments or shiny blue-white”rocks” of various sizes. The purity of crystal methamphetaminetypically is over 80 percent, depending upon the amount of washing, the purityof the initial substance, and the experience of the laboratory operator.
Meth is a highly addictive substance that is often manufactured illegally in clandestine laboratories. Many of these labs are located in other countries like Mexico and the meth is trafficked into the U.S. illegally. However, some labs still exist in America and are responsible for some of the meth being dealt on the streets or sold online. The DEA office in Greensboro reported having a 2,000% increase in meth seizures since the fiscal year 2017. It is expected that drug traffickers are sending bulk shipments of meth straight to North Carolina from Mexico. But it’s unknown exactly how much meth comes through the southwest border undetected or at what pace.
Posted: August 30, 2023 7:34 am
According to Agung Rai
“The concept of taksu is important to the Balinese, in fact to any artist. I do not think one can simply plan to paint a beautiful painting, a perfect painting.”
The issue of taksu is also one of honesty, for the artist and the viewer. An artist will follow his heart or instinct, and will not care what other people think. A painting that has a magic does not need to be elaborated upon, the painting alone speaks.
A work of art that is difficult to describe in words has to be seen with the eyes and a heart that is open and not influenced by the name of the painter. In this honesty, there is a purity in the connection between the viewer and the viewed.
As a through discussion of Balinese and Indonesian arts is beyond the scope of this catalogue, the reader is referred to the books listed in the bibliography. The following descriptions of painters styles are intended as a brief introduction to the paintings in the catalogue, which were selected using several criteria. Each is what Agung Rai considers to be an exceptional work by a particular artist, is a singular example of a given period, school or style, and contributes to a broader understanding of the development of Balinese and Indonesian paintng. The Pita Maha artist society was established in 1936 by Cokorda Gde Agung Sukawati, a royal patron of the arts in Ubud, and two European artists, the Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet, and Walter Spies, a German. The society’s stated purpose was to support artists and craftsmen work in various media and style, who were encouraged to experiment with Western materials and theories of anatomy, and perspective.
The society sought to ensure high quality works from its members, and exhibitions of the finest works were held in Indonesia and abroad. The society ceased to be active after the onset of World War II. Paintings by several Pita Maha members are included in the catalogue, among them; Ida Bagus Made noted especially for his paintings of Balinese religious and mystical themes; and Anak Agung Gde Raka Turas, whose underwater seascapes have been an inspiration for many younger painters.
Painters from the village of Batuan, south of Ubud, have been known since the 1930s for their dense, immensely detailed paintings of Balinese ceremonies, daily life, and increasingly, “modern” Bali. In the past the artists used tempera paints; since the introduction of Western artists materials, watercolors and acrylics have become popular. The paintings are produced by applying many thin layers of paint to a shaded ink drawing. The palette tends to be dark, and the composition crowded, with innumerable details and a somewhat flattened perspective. Batuan painters represented in the catalogue are Ida Bagus Widja, whose paintings of Balinese scenes encompass the sacred as well as the mundane; and I Wayan Bendi whose paintings of the collision of Balinese and Western cultures abound in entertaining, sharply observed vignettes.
In the early 1960s,Arie Smit, a Dutch-born painter, began inviting he children of Penestanan, Ubud, to come and experiment with bright oil paints in his Ubud studio. The eventually developed the Young Artists style, distinguished by the used of brilliant colors, a graphic quality in which shadow and perspective play little part, and focus on scenes and activities from every day life in Bali. I Ketut Tagen is the only Young Artist in the catalogue; he explores new ways of rendering scenes of Balinese life while remaining grounded in the Young Artists strong sense of color and design.
The painters called “academic artists” from Bali and other parts of Indonesia are, in fact, a diverse group almost all of whom share the experience of having received training at Indonesian or foreign institutes of fine arts. A number of artists who come of age before Indonesian independence was declared in 1945 never had formal instruction at art academies, but studied painting on their own. Many of them eventually become instructors at Indonesian institutions. A number of younger academic artists in the catalogue studied with the older painters whose work appears here as well. In Bali the role of the art academy is relatively minor, while in Java academic paintings is more highly developed than any indigenous or traditional styles. The academic painters have mastered Western techniques, and have studied the different modern art movements in the West; their works is often influenced by surrealism, pointillism, cubism, or abstract expressionism. Painters in Indonesia are trying to establish a clear nation of what “modern Indonesian art” is, and turn to Indonesian cultural themes for subject matter. The range of styles is extensive Among the artists are Affandi, a West Javanese whose expressionistic renderings of Balinese scenes are internationally known; Dullah, a Central Javanese recognized for his realist paintings; Nyoman Gunarsa, a Balinese who creates distinctively Balinese expressionist paintings with traditional shadow puppet motifs; Made Wianta, whose abstract pointillism sets him apart from other Indonesian painters.
Since the late 1920s, Bali has attracted Western artists as short and long term residents. Most were formally trained at European academies, and their paintings reflect many Western artistic traditions. Some of these artists have played instrumental roles in the development of Balinese painting over the years, through their support and encouragement of local artist. The contributions of Rudolf Bonnet and Arie Smit have already been mentioned. Among other European artists whose particular visions of Bali continue to be admired are Willem Gerrad Hofker, whose paintings of Balinese in traditional dress are skillfully rendered studies of drapery, light and shadow; Carel Lodewijk Dake, Jr., whose moody paintings of temples capture the atmosphere of Balinese sacred spaces; and Adrien Jean Le Mayeur, known for his languid portraits of Balinese women.
Agung Rai feels that
Art is very private matter. It depends on what is displayed, and the spiritual connection between the work and the person looking at it. People have their own opinions, they may or may not agree with my perceptions.
He would like to encourage visitors to learn about Balinese and Indonesian art, ant to allow themselves to establish the “purity in the connection” that he describes. He hopes that his collection will de considered a resource to be actively studied, rather than simply passively appreciated, and that it will be enjoyed by artists, scholars, visitors, students, and schoolchildren from Indonesia as well as from abroad.
Abby C. Ruddick, Phd
“SELECTED PAINTINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE AGUNG RAI FINE ART GALLERY”
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