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February 07, 2005
Meth is Today's Crack
I'm glad that meth is getting its due course in the media lately. With a high profile murder of a 10 yr old, and a massive Sunday times article written by the father of a meth addict, coverage this week has been particularly good. Its never had the fiery criminalization that crack had during its terribly destructive reign, perhaps because the media has a much easier time criminalizing the criminalized, and this epidemic hits a little too close to home. Or maybe because our very own military gives its pilots "go pills" (meth) as recently documented as in the case of mistakenly bombed Canadians in Afghanistan.
Oregon's largely white, rural, low income population, hit hard by unemployement, has been particularly burdened by this epidemic. The Oregonian did an excellent 5 part series on the epidemic. About time. I've seen kids taken under by this drug. Whereas heroin has the reputation of being mind numbingly difficult to quit, meth still doesn't have the rep it should have, for how easily it can destroy lives.
UPDATE: Excellent NYTimes article on the killing of the 10 year old in IN over meth.
Posted by jmarston at February 7, 2005 03:04 PM
Comments
I was visiting over the holidays when this came out. Haunting.
Posted by: Annie at February 15, 2005 02:22 PM