Most use of crack cocaine eventually faded away because of the pernicious effects of the drug on users, and now there are some indications that the same may be happening with methamphetamine.

The Associated Press reported April 2 on a series of anecdotal and research reports hinting at a decline in meth's popularity. A crackdown on over-the-counter drugs used to make meth has led to a reported decline in  the number of homegrown meth labs uncovered by police. Positive drug tests for meth use also have fallen from 33 per 10,000 workers in 2004 to 16 per 10,000 in 2006.

In the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, meth-related emergency room visits fell from 1,402 in 2005 to 251 in 2006, while Montana officials said that meth-related crime has declined by half.

Meth-related ER visits also fell in San Francisco, and use is falling among gay men as information on the drug's harsh side effects have spread, according to John Newmayer of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinics. "[It's] probably the same reasons we saw the decline 10 years ago with African-Americans and crack cocaine," said Newmayer. "It just became not the thing to do."

However, meth use continues to spread and even grow in new areas, such as Florida and the East Coast.

Law-enforcement officials said that while Mexican meth has replaced locally produced drug stocks in some cases, prices have gone up and purity has fallen in places like Portland, Ore. Some officials say that interest in powdered cocaine has increased as meth's popularity has waned.