Parental drug use was a factor in more than 60 percent of the abuse and neglect cases that resulted in children being removed from their parents care since last summer, according to Chris Purcell of the Division of Family Services. Drug abuse accounts for the vast majority of crimes in Yellowstone County. Users burglarize, forge and steal to support their habits. People under the influence commit violent crimes. Other local shootings in recent years have been tied to feuds between drug dealers.
Young girls go to work for dealers, often selling themselves for their next fix.
This highly addictive powder is involved in more than 40 percent of child abuse and neglect cases in Yellowstone County. Nine out of ten women admitted to the Montana Chemical Dependency Center in Butte are hooked on meth. Billings hospitals continue to treat a steady stream of crank addicts, some of whom are psychotic or suicidal. It's still certainly a major issue in psychiatric care in this community. Statistics from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services attribute 44 deaths in Montana to methamphetamine abuse between 1990 and 1997.