About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


39 American J. Crim. Just. 1 (2014)

handle is hein.journals/acnjrlocm39 and id is 1 raw text is: Am J Crim Just (2014) 39:1-21 DOI 10.1007/s12103-012-9197-8 A Comparison of Criminological and Public Health Models: Geographic and Social Diversity Associated with Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures Ralph A. Weisheit • L. Edward Wells Received: 24 September 2012 /Accepted: 20 December 2012 / Published online: 9 January 2013 © Southern Criminal Justice Association 2013 Abstract In the 1990s methamphetamine (meth) emerged as a significant drug problem in the United States. Along with more widespread meth use was a growing pattern of localized production of the drug in small-scale clandestine laboratories, creating public health issues beyond the drug's direct harms to the health of users. Early efforts in analyzing aggregate patterns of meth lab production across communities suggest this phenomenon is different from other types of crime and drug problems, showing distinctive geographic patterns and different causal/etiological dynamics. This paper assesses the viability of public health outcomes as predictors of methamphetamine laboratory problems and compares them with traditional criminological predictors as explanations for aggregate patterns in meth lab problems across U.S. counties. It documents how local variations in meth production are different from other types of crime patterns and identifies whether geographic variations in local meth labs might be more effectively predicted and explained in public health terms. Keywords Methamphetamine . Public health . Meth labs . Crime . Drugs . Geography An earlier version of this paper was presented to the American Society of Criminology's Annual Meeting, November 16, 2011 Washington, DC R. A. Weisheit (E) Department of Criminal Justice Sciences, Illinois State University, Campus Box 5250, Normal, IL 61790-5250, USA e-mail: raweish@ilstu.edu L. E. Wells Department of Criminal Justice Sciences, Illinois State University, Campus Box 5250, Normal, IL 61761-5250, USA e-mail: ewells(4ilstu.edu 4L Springer