Free Republic

America has a serious drug problem, but it's not the "meth epidemic" getting so much publicity. It's the problem identified by William Bennett, the former national drug czar and gambler. "Using drugs," he wrote, "is wrong not simply because drugs create medical problems; it is wrong because drugs destroy one's moral sense. People addicted to drugs neglect their duties." This problem afflicts a small minority of the people who have tried methamphetamines, but most of the law-enforcement officials and politicians who lead the war against drugs. They're so consumed with drugs that they've lost sight of their duties. Like addicts...

NUEVO LAREDO, MEXICO - When Esteban Perez sold $35 bags of heroin on the streets of this violent border city, he said he felt three things: fear, dread and terror. He feared not having enough money to bribe the local police to look the other way. He dreaded not having enough heroin left to feed his addiction. And he was terrified of not having enough cash for the drug smugglers who had sold him the narcotics and demanded a share of his profits. "I was scared of them, most of all," Perez, 24, said of the traffickers. "They ask you...

....according to a local ethnic Chinese businessman "I'm expecting 20 more trucks coming this evening," he told a family friend. "The last convoy had already brought in 4,000 blocks (1 block = 350 gm) of heroin. I know many will not agree with me but this war is certainly good for business." According to an earlier reports, the Wa have already shipped down at least 1.4 tons of heroin and 14 million pills of methamphetamines to the border on 11 April.

from the May 29, 2002 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0529/p06s01-woap.html A drug craze sweeps ThailandMethamphetamines from Burma continue to flood Thailand where use among all ages has skyrocketed.By Dan Murphy | Special to The Christian Science Monitor BANGKOK, THAILAND - Thai officials say last year was the worst year on record for the use of methamphetamine, a form of speed, called ya ba, or "crazy medicine" here. The Thai military is so alarmed that it has labeled the surge in users a threat to national security. Almost all of the methamphetamine is produced in labs in Burma (Myanmar), where the drug...