Meth Cases Increase in Marquette County
Methamphetamine has been a problem in rural America for the last decade.
The Upper Peninsula is no exception.
Just recently in Marquette County, there’s been an increase in Meth cases, addiction rates, arrests and accidents and explosions connected with making the drug.
The Michigan State Police is one of several local agencies that has started to crack down on the Meth problem and law enforcement officials are painfully aware of the issues it causes in the greater community.
“We’ve seen a large increase in Meth over the last five to ten years and there is no big rhyme or reason why that is happening, but the increase in Marquette County is substantial to the point here where we have to really start cracking down on this, not that we haven’t before, but we are really putting a focus on it on the uniform side of the police to try and curb the addictions, the production of methamphetamine, the use of it has really skyrocketed,” said Michigan State Police Lieutenant Mark Giannunzio. “I don’t know why that is, it could be a rural environment, type thing but Marquette County in the U.P. seems to be a real hot spot right now.”
Lieutenant Giannunzio said that over the years methamphetamine has been coming from other countries like Mexico and states around the Michigan border.
Troopers at the Negaunee Post go to methamphetamine training so they can learn how to quickly identify signs of Methamphetamine in a variety of situations.
“We here at the state police post in Negaunee have sent a majority of our troops to advance meth training. They are very keen on what it takes to make a meth lab, what they are looking at in vehicles when they are on a routine traffic-stop, what are they looking for, those components the average person wouldn’t even think to look for, almost all of our troops have been sent to these trainings so they know what to look for. Even the little things that can lead into a case, a search warrant into a residence and lead into an arrest,” said Lt. Giannunzio. “Again, we are not taking this lightly. We are teaming up with our drug teams UPSET, HST teams and we are trying to stop this as fast as we can. It is a huge epidemic, it is a huge problem, we are seeing this on a daily basis at the post, where our troops are getting involved in case dealing with meth.”
If you or someone you know has an addiction to Methamphetamine, there is help.
If you or someone you know has an addiction to Methamphetamine, visit the link below.
Contact Us – Great Lakes Recovery Centers, Inc.