MENARD - Sheriff Bruce Hough said he's dismayed by the explosion in methamphetamine production and use in rural West Texas. Rural areas have always had a small drug culture, Hough said, but methamphetamine use has made a sharp increase in the past two years.

Hough said he grew up in the small town of Menard and has seen how drug use hurt some of the people he grew up with.

"Some of the people who get away from it turn out to be successful people and do something with their life," Hough said. "Others who are still using have done nothing. Their kids have grown up and become users themselves. They are still living house to house and job to job and spend every dime they make on meth."

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