The Methamphetamine Epidemic -- Less Than Meets the Eye

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

[Mjaye]

I won and beat it but many don't. In fact many get killed over it<<<<<<<<

You have so much to be thankful for and proud of. I wish people could see the metamorphosis of normal, everyday people from looking like the person next door to looking like death barely warmed over. As you can no doubt attest, getting off meth is vicious, and using it is even more vicious. The accompanying paranoia makes any kind of normal life impossible, and the physical effects are enormous.

This isn't "Reefer Madness" scare tactics, as many would claim, and if they say they do crank recreationally with no effect on their life, it's a joke. If they can pull it off, they are flirting with disaster.

I've had people with rotting, putrid teeth, looking like end stage AIDS-ridden skeletons stand there and claim that they were handling it just fine, thank you very much. They could stop whenever they chose.

You are exactly right, it kills, it maims, and this story is nothing but an attempt to whitewash a problem I've seen spread in various areas and age groups. And before anybody says "Oh, you need the drug war to keep a job", nope, sorry, not the case. This isn't about the drug war, they won't legalize crank even if other drugs were legal, and if they did, the sellers would simply target younger people or step up the strength over what the gov't allowed.

Again, thank God you came back, so many don't make it.

[coloradan]

Meth addicts will go after you if they think you are going to take their meth

...which they would have no reason to think if it were legal, which of course isn't the case today.

or you might be coming to get them for some traffic ticket they had in '97, or you might be the person who's been listening to them through their air conditioning vents in their car.

Drunks often lose touch with reality, too. Care to look at how many deaths are caused by people "in drunken rages"? It's probably more than those killed by meth heads. Then there are the drunk driving fatalities, far more than all other causes of homicide combined.

Are you saying that we would legalize crank to begin with, and if so, getting it legally would make them less paranoid and nuts? I don't think so.

It would certainly make them less fearful of legal consequences, which as you yourself say, plays a part in their "paranoia" (although it isn't paranoia if you really are out to get them, which is the present case with the War On (some) Drugs).

There is a major difference between people on meth from the street and those taking a prescribed amphetamine, whick I might add has fallen out of favor for weight control.

In that case, you should oppose measures that ensure there will be meth "on the street," namely, it's prohibition. If it could be obtained legally, meth on the street would essentially vanish. How widely available is moonshine today?

If you ever worked with a significant number of meth addicts, you could not possibly think it's bad only because it's illegal.

I did not and do not think it's bad only because it's illegal. What I think is that the cure, the Drug War, is worse than the problem, drug addiction.

A devastating change takes place in people on meth, and the photos posted don't even show the half of it for many users.

A devastating change takes place for people who have their doors kicked in at 3AM by Drug Warriors, and who are then shot in their bed because they might have a gun - something many noncriminal people try to do when you kick in their doors at 3AM. The thing is, you can choose to not do meth, but you can't choose to not be a victim of a wrong-address no-knock raid. But apparently this price is worth it to you. Jumping off a cliff, banging your head on a brick wall, or attempting to climb Mt. Hood two or three days before a blizzard, are all legal, but that doesn't mean they're without risk of harm or death - nor that they should be made illegal.

[Dov in Houston]

Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant drug that dramatically affects the central nervous system. It is usually illegally produced and distributed.

Meth comes in several forms, including powder, crystal, rocks, and tablets. When it comes in the crystal form it is called “crystal meth.”


Meth can be taken by swallowing, snorting, smoking, or injecting it with a hypodermic needle.


Unlike drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin, which are derived from plants, meth can be manufactured using a variety of store bought chemicals.

The most common ingredient in meth is pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, commonly found in cold medicine. Through a cooking process the pseudoephedrine or ephedrine is chemically changed into meth. The ingredients that are used in the process of making meth can include: ether, paint thinner, Freon®, acetone, anhydrous ammonia, iodine crystals, red phosphorus, drain cleaner, battery acid, and lithium (taken from inside batteries

Yep just imagine the high from sniffing this. Even worse mainlining it.

"Hon would you please pass the battery acid, I'm coming down"

And to make it worse yet. Meth labs have been known to explode taking out houseS. Including the neighbors houseS. Ahh and when around a meth lab smell the air. It stinks and has it's own odor that a user will never forget.

[Mjaye]

A devastating change takes place for people who have their doors kicked in at 3AM by Drug Warriors, and who are then shot in their bed because they might have a gun - something many noncriminal people try to do when you kick in their doors at 3AM. <<<<<<<<<<<<

Give me a break, these War on Drugs discussions always end up citing some miniscule percentage of drug raids at a bad address, which are inarguably deplorable. Nobody believes that all these meth users would be model citizens if it were legal and police had no issue with it.

Anyone with experience with both drunks and meth addicts will tell you that the differences are enormous. The old "alcohol is just as bad" is a lame justification for using a drug that is made of some garbage ingredients. They will never legalize crank and they shouldn't. I always love drug success stories, the college kid mentality at work.

If you want to focus on the police or bad laws as the excuse for what meth addicts turn into, be my guest. I usually avoid these threads, they just remind me how many adults, and worse yet children, that I've encountered over the years who have no future.

A kid who has drunk alcohol to excess in his past and likes it will have a hard enough time, but spend some time with 14 and 15 year olds who can't even carry on a conversation because they are so screwed up from the meth they did. And I'm talking about in the past, not kids currently under the influence. Doing it at that age has much worse consequences than with adults, and they are lasting.

It's pointless to try and convince me that meth is a benign substance that ought to be available in the corner drug store.