States that have passed laws restricting access to medication that can be used to make methamphetamine have had success wiping out neighborhood meth labs, but are now faced with an influx of cheap, potent methamphetamine from Mexico, the New York Times reported Jan. 23.

Iowa, for example, is now seizing just 20 local meth labs a month, down from 120 before the state increased regulation of cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine and other chemicals that are used by make meth. But Marvin Van Haaften, the state's drug czar, said the resulting flood of meth from Mexico to replace the lost local supply "is killing us."

"I'm not sure we can control it as well as we can the meth labs in your community," he said.

Iowa hospitals are seeing fewer burn cases associated with meth-lab accidents, but addiction treatment centers say that the number of meth addicts has remained stable or grown. Fewer children are being removed from homes that have been used as meth labs, but more are being taken from homes where parents are addicted to the drug.

"You can't legislate away demand," said Betty Oldenkamp, secretary of human services in South Dakota. "The law enforcement aspects are tremendously important, but we also have to do something to address the demand."

The Mexican meth is driving up demand in part because it is purer than the homegrown drug. In the first four months after the Iowa bill passed, average meth purity on the streets rose from 47 percent to 80 percent. The same has happened in other states that have restricted pharmacy sales of precursor drugs. "The Mexican drug cartels were right there to feed that demand," said Tom Cunningham, the drug task force coordinator for the district attorneys council in Oklahoma. "They have always supplied marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. When we took away the local meth lab, they simply added methamphetamine to the truck."

Imported meth also costs more than homegrown, which has led to a spike in crime as users seek more cash to feed their habits. "Our burglaries have just skyrocketed," said Jerry Furness of the Buchanan County, Iowa drug task force. "The state asks how the decrease in meth labs has reduced danger to citizens, and it has, as far as potential explosions. But we've had a lot of burglaries where the occupants are home at the time, and that's probably more of a risk. So it's kind of evening out."

Increased purity also has led to a rise in meth overdoses. "People are overdosing; they're not expecting it to do this much," said Darcy Jensen, director of South Dakota's Prairie View Prevention Services. "They don't realize that that fourth of a gram they're used to using is double or triple in potency."

Having tried the law-enforcement route, some state lawmakers are now looking to demand reduction as a way to fight their meth problem. "We've increased penalties, we've increased prison time, we're still not getting in front of it," said Iowa state Representative Clel Baudler.