Meth In Perspective

The single hardest thing you'll find to nail down about methamphetamine is accurate street prices and as we've discovered, there's a variety of reasons. First of all, depending on what area, or region of North America you're in, or for that matter, what country, the local law enforcement use a "favorite" or "local" formula to calculate street price. We've even found multiple prices given for the same seizure, specifically stated as either "street value," or "wholesale value," yet they still vary as much as 200 or 300% on the same day relating to the same amount seized. That could be a disconnect between the enforcement spokesperson and the media, we're not sure.

And if you try and use figures from various Federal Agencies in both the U.S. and Canada, the numbers are so out of date (in some cases 5 years old) that they can't possibly have much relevance today. What good would it be for us to tell you what the price of meth was estimated to be almost five years ago?

In an absolute sense, there are a great many variables that can affect how a price is assigned to a given amount of methamphetamine, especially when you consider how a dose or street point is calculated. For example, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a "dose" or "point" of meth is measured at one-tenth of a gram, (100mg.) And there are several other regions that use that same measurement. However, in Arizona and most parts of Illinois, a dose is calculated at approximately one quarter of a gram (250 mg.) And based on at least two sources, Florida often measures a "dose" at approximately 750 milligrams.

But frankly, whether someone is buying a tenth of a gram, or a half a gram, the price is usually proportionate to the original pound it came from, and for our survey, we converted everything to one pound amounts. In addition, to maintain the integrity of our data, we didn't even include reports that described the amount by how many "doses," or "points" it could produce.

So what you'll find on the next page is what we've collected and recorded recently, and these are all prices or values that were published in one news source or another within the last nine months or so. When you see more than one price for a particular area, that's simply because more than one price has been stated by law enforcement, customs, or a news agency in that area. If it was specifically stated that it was "crystal" meth, or "ice" seized, that's been noted because traditionally it has a higher value than powder. And if the value given was specifically stated as wholesale or street value, that's been noted as well. All amounts were converted to price per pound based on statements made within the article.