The Methamphetamine Epidemic -- Less Than Meets the Eye

Drug War Chronicle ^ | August 5, 2005 | Drug War Chronicle

[JTN]

The "New Drug of Choice" story is a media formula. It's one of those things they turn to when there's nothing else to report, much like shark attacks. In a few months the press will have picked out a new drug and will report the same things about it.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING!

[patricktschetter]

And yet now I'm a crook when I try to buy more than 10 days or so worth of pseudoephedrine drugs for my occasional sinus issues, all because the meth makers use it. Grr.

[DirtyHarryY2K]

ping

[E. Pluribus Unum]

In a few months the press will have picked out a new drug and will report the same things about it.

First they'll run a story about how great and good for you it is, like they did with LSD and Ecstasy, then a few years later they will run a story about how it is the most addictive, destructive drug ever.

[Trust but Verify]

That's if you can get it at all. In Wisconsin, you have to get it from a pharmacist, which means any store without a pharmacy, or one where the pharmacy closes during business hours cannot sell it at all. I'm so po'd that I have to drive all over town until I find a place to buy sinus medication.

[cgk]

As for laws aimed at home labs, such as the ones either passed or under consideration in 40 states that restrict the sales of cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine, they are having unintended consequences, said McVay. "If you look at Oklahoma, which led the way with those Sudafed laws, what you are seeing is, yes, a 90% drop in lab busts, but the number of ice seizures has increased five-fold. Ice is the smokeable meth being imported by the Mexican gangs. In terms of overall meth use, these laws really do nothing except protect the market share of the Mexicans."

[durasell]

Even a small percentage of the population using a drug can play havoc with communities. In the early/mid 1990s only a small percentage of the urban population ever tried crack and it turned into a disaster.

[goldstategop]

The WOD folks hyped the meth problem to take our freedom to buy cold medicine. They not only don't trust us they insist meth is getting out of hand in spite of documented data to the contrary. There's no major drug epidemic - meth or otherwise - in this country but the MSM and the WOD bureaucrats both profit by frightening people into surrending ever more of their autonomy to the government. Qui bono? Its a good question.

("Denny Crane: Gun Control? For Communists. She's a liberal. Can't hunt.")

[emiller]

You know, I had to drive out to Kingman, Az recently, and I stopped in this little town nearby, and everyone had "meth mouth", and their eyes were bright red, and they acted like zombies! A meth town. I am serious. Out in the desert, without "the man" keeping an eye on them, this stuff is all over like ugly on an ape.

[Pyro7480]

I think the source of this article, and the media have agendas on the drug issue. That said, given what I have read on the subject of meth specifically, I think it's one of the more evil substances concocted by man.

[DirtyHarryY2K]

[mosquitobite]

We're fighting to get custody of my nephew, whose mother tested positive for doing Meth when she gave birth to a new baby in July (not my brother's).

There is no evidence of abuse of the 6YO, but CPS still has him in foster care because of his mother's drug use. She hasn't been charged with a crime, but CPS is punishing her for her crime anyways by stealing her kids.

The meth scare from the media helps govt bureaucracies win more support for their existence.

[emiller]

No Way! Where did you get that series of photos! I want to link it to my friends.

[little jeremiah]

Thanks - I guess the county I live in is imagining all the meth labs, drug busts, meth tweakers and so on. It's just a mass illusion..

(ping it out later...don't have time to read the fine print at the moment.)

Funny how liberaltarians want to think that drug use isn't as bad as it really is.

[no-s]

Ice is the smokeable meth being imported by the Mexican gangs. In terms of overall meth use, these laws really do nothing except protect the market share of the Mexicans."

There's an interesting point there. I feel a rant about reverse protectionism coming on...combine this with labor issues due to protection of illegal immigrants and I wonder where it could go???

Does NAFTA cover illegal market subsidies?

Is it the evil Mexicans causing the trouble? Or is the Nanny State trying to disdain responsibility for the breakdown of laws and morality...? I already know better than to trust stats circulated in the MSM at face value...

[AppyPappy]

How much do you need for 10 days? You're in the Stroke Zone if you are taking that much.

[Explodo]

As a Person raised in a small Midwestern Town, I would like to say this report underplays the problem Immmensely. Out of my class of 120 people, 40 were Meth Addicts by the time I graduated from College. I've watched people turn into these Rail thin Monsters...The Change is striking. I've even lost a very good friend to one of the murdering thugs. My friend(A State trooper) drove up on car thought to be abandoned...turns out there was a meth head hanging out in the car while he cooked his meth in the ditch. The Meth head overpowered him and shot him in the head while my buddy begged for his life.

Ladies and gents, This drug is destroying the small towns across the middle of the country. To say this isn't a huge problem is almost criminal. Personally, I think there is something wrong with the numbers...The areas hit hardest by this drug are very small population towns...When you mix these towns in with larger cities, you loose the severity in the noise of the stats. I fully believe 99% of all Oklahoma towns below the population of 10K have a significant Meth problem.

Comments?

[durasell]

If she did meth while pregnant, it may not be a crime, but it's certainly reprehensible. There is a good chance that kid is already damaged beyond repair.