The Methamphetamine Epidemic -- Less Than Meets the Eye

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

[durasell]

Yes that is rather obviously a problem, but ask yourself why people cook this stuff in their basements.


Uh, because the attics are too crowded?

People cook it to make money. It is a business proposition. And it can only go one way -- which is eventual consolidation. That means blood in the streets. We're at the relative beginning of the thing, once consolidation starts, then the thing ramps up in terms of violence.

[JTN]

You also might like this.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41447

Hilarious.

[bonfire]

It's rampant in my county here in Ohio and it was the same in Texas. Very scary.

[JTN]

People cook it to make money. It is a business proposition. And it can only go one way -- which is eventual consolidation. That means blood in the streets. We're at the relative beginning of the thing, once consolidation starts, then the thing ramps up in terms of violence.

I agree! Every word! But the reason this is going to happen is because of prohibition. The alcohol trade in this country was once very violent, but if you've noticed a recent lack of press stories about shootouts between Miller and Budweiser, its because they are allowed to handle their business legally.

If people can buy their drugs at Kroger, they probably won't be getting it from some homebrewer.

[durasell]

Again, there is no comparison to alcohol and this stuff, even in terms of prohibition. I have heard the alcohol argument used for everything from put to heroin and it just doesn't wash. Really. It doesn't compare in terms of chemical effects on the brain or the long term usage or the nature of the addiction.

I would strongly suggest that you spend some time in a local trailer park or ghetto to get a feel for what addiction does to people and its impact on communities -- though be careful.

[Tammy8]

Problem with that theory is meth addicts are responsible for a lot of the other crimes. They steal like no body's business, to pay for their drugs- thay also have many car accidents- my SIL wrecked 7 or 8 times in a year while he was taking that crap. Anyone who owns property, pays taxes or travels on the same roads as the addicts is suffering the consequences. This really does affect many more people than just the addict.

[Max in Utah]

Utah too?

Utah bigtime. The MM apparently works through the local gangs, whose members are the streetlevel dealers.

[durasell]

The MM apparently works through the local gangs...

In Utah? Gangs?

[JTN]

Again, there is no comparison...even in terms of prohibition.

The effects seem to correlate pretty well. For example, the harder the gov't enforces prohibition, the higher the murder rate. The policy didn't work for alcohol in the twenties, it hasn't worked on other drugs in the last 30 years, and nobody can explain to me why they think it's going to start working now.

[JTN]

Problem with that theory is meth addicts are responsible for a lot of the other crimes.

Drug addicts do often steal to support their habit, but that is largely because black markets have the effect of making everything much more expensive.

[riri]

Yeah. In Utah. Gangs.

[Max in Utah]

They steal like no body's business...

Got that right. If a tweaker needs $150 per day to get by, he has to steal ten times that value in property because most anyone who buys from him knows it's hot.

[Max in Utah]

In Utah? Gangs?

Well, I didn't stop them to ask, but I thought the facial tatoos were kind of a giveaway. Like the teardrop at the corner of the eye, and the name across the back of the neck.

There was a 12 year old boy shot through the head with a .30/06 during his birthday party in a local park this summer. His brains splattered against his mother next to him. Couple gangbangers shooting it out in the street.

[coloradan]

The murders and addicts and everything else we call the drug "epidemic" right now is despite the prohibition. Add to that the outright cost of prohibition, namely, billions of dollars thrown at enforcement every year, that we also have no-knock raids (that sometimes kill innocent people), asset forfeiture (including against non-drug-criminals), militarized police forces, strip searches and armed raids at government schools, drug dog searches of all passengers at airports and bus terminals, mandatory reporting of all cash transactions >$10k at banks, corruption of law enforcement, zero tolerance programs at schools and workplaces, piss tests at workplaces, letting violent criminals out of jail to make room for non-violent drug offenders, etc., and add to that the indirect costs of prohibition: murders of witnesses and law enforcement agents, increased prices leading to enrichment of criminals and terrorists, and increased theft, burglary, and robbery rates for addicts to support their habits, drug purity and concentration controlled by criminals instead of pharmaceutical firms, resulting in OD and contamination deaths...

Speaking of utopian philosophies that lead to hell on earth - this is your authoritarian utopia right here.

[taxed2death]

"Yeah Connecticut...great place. Glad you have the compassion to look down your nose big guy."

Well, areas of Ct are very nice...and like most other places...other areas of Ct are awash in drugs / poverty etc. I do not know what that has to do with anything though.

But since Ct is a welfare state... it's leaders actually encourage this behavior. It's all carrot and no stick here.

"Compassion"?

Compassion has NOTHING to do with this thread.

I'm not looking down on anyone...but lets put the BLAME where it BELONGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The BLAME lies DIRECTLY with the MORONS who wake up one day and decide to do meth.

Can't these people see that no one achieves success and fortune and happiness by doing meth?


In 1989 I lost my job, my home and about everything I owned but the clothes on my back. I just happened to be in the wrong occupation at the wrong time. I STILL never consider myself a victim though. I suppose at that time I had about as much reason to START taking drugs as anyone ....well, guess what... NOT REALLY... because there's NO reason to start to take drugs. None.
I never once sat down and said... "Gee, I know what will turn things around in my life... let me fire up some crank"!

Where is the disconnect that drug users have with common sense...at the time of their FIRST "light up"?

See?

THAT's the problem.... not the DRUGS.... but the THOUGHT pattern that precludes the drug use.

Everything AFTER that first lungful of poison is soooooo predictable.

It's been done and documented and the results are (evidently) all around you. So, the question remains... "WHY DO IT"?

If there were 15 million people a day that take a step outside and walk in front of a moving car... and you see these busted up people lying around your feet each day...
Would you take a leisurely stroll down the centerline of a highway?

It's the SAME THING!

So don't babble on about "compassion" from something that is 100% avoidable and 100% SELF inflicted.

[durasell]

The high murder rate had nothing to do with the degree of gov't enforcement during prohibition, it had to do with consolidation of territories and gaining a competitive advantage in order to expand customer base.

But again, there is little or no comparison between meth and alcohol in terms of addiction.

[durasell]

Yes, 100% self-inflicted, but you need to understand the way addicts become addicts. Because once they are addicts they're a real problem for all concerned. You can turn you're back on them and say, "serves ya right!" but then one day a close relative gets blown away or run down by some addict -- and that's the price you pay.

[taxed2death]

I am not saying "serves you right"....ok?

More like...
what the H*LL did you EXPECT the likely outcome would be?

C'mon, let's be honest with ourselves here.

Think LOGICALLY for a minute and forget the touchy-feely crapola.

There's no one that I have EVER seen in any industry, TV show or any leader in any capacity that has ever said...."I must admit....if it wasn't for __________ (< insert drug name there) I would have never risen to this position or level of respect in my community."

So you see... the PROBLEM of drug abuse does not lie in the type of drug...it matters not what the flavor of the week happens to be...heroin, crack, crank, X...what ever...

The PROBLEM lies in the thought process of the person who is just about to cook up his / her first hit of the drug.



The drug is the crutch. The drug is the wrecking ball. The drug taker is the crane operator.

[durasell]

Having known several addicts (before, during and after the addiction) I can tell you exactly what the thought process is -- it's a shortened time horizon.

Nobody wakes up and says, "Hey I'm gonna be an addict!" They reach addiction through a process of small steps that don't seem to impact their lives -- immediately. Once they are an addict, they can't look beyond the next fix.

[taxed2death]

Thanks for the reasoned response. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts......I am unable to make the connect regarding the thought process.

regards