How to Fight Methamphetamine?
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 10:45 PM

The most curious vice story out of the UK in recent days concerns a non-barking dog. Specifically, the large increase in the prevalence of meth use that might have been expected has failed to materialize. The police have a ready explanation:

Crystal meth, predicted by some to become Britain's deadliest drug, has so far failed to take off in the UK because cocaine remains so cheap and popular, according to senior police officers.

Ensuring inexpensive and plentiful cocaine as a policy for reducing social costs from the use of illegal drugs; this is not your granddad's harm reduction.

Labels: Britain, cocaine, methamphetamine

 
Cocaine in New York City
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 11:11 PM

Today's New York Times runs an article in its Sunday Styles section about the prominence of cocaine in the city's nightlife (and in the lifestyle of the creative set more generally). There's a claim that the resurgence of coke use among young New Yorkers -- a resurgence that does not seem to have much statistical evidence in its support -- is in part due to 'generational amnesia.' The idea here is that the generation scarred by John Belushi's death was driven away from cocaine, but that the younger generation has not seen the same tragedies associated with the drug. This is a version of the usual 'new drug' problem. The use of addictive drugs tends to bring current pleasure and future pain. When a drug is new, few users are paying the cost, so it looks a bit better than it will turn out to be. New or rediscovered drugs develop better reputations, for a time, than they deserve. And the lack of a convincing statistical portrait of use is one of the raft of negative consequences stemming from drug prohibition.

'Coke is the new weed,' in terms of the acceptability of its open use in certain circles, according to one quote in the article. Another observer notes that the use of cocaine is much more socially acceptable than...smoking a cigarette. There's even a claim that the campaign against methamphetamine has made users think of cocaine as a safer alternative.

Labels: cocaine, methamphetamine, New York, Prohibition

 
A Parent's View of His Son's Addiction
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 5:44 PM

A sad and moving story appears in today’s New York Times Magazine: “My Addicted Son,” by David Sheff. It’s about, well, Sheff’s son, Nick, a recovering methamphetamine addict. Nick tried meth and, for him, its appeal was irresistible. The result? Addiction, arrest, dropping out of college, emergency room visits, failed rehab attempts, and disappearances. And for his parents, helplessness and self-deception, the nurturing of unrealistic hope in the face of a terrible reality,
and a constant lowering of the bar:

Through Nick's drug addiction, I learned that parents can bear almost anything. Every time we reach a point where we feel as if we can't bear any more, we do. Things had descended in a way that I never could have imagined, and I shocked myself with my ability to rationalize and tolerate things that were once unthinkable. He's just experimenting. Going through a stage. It's only marijuana. He gets high only on weekends. At least he's not using heroin. He would never resort to needles. At least he's alive.

It’s a superb, disturbing article.

Labels: addiction, methamphetamine, teens

 
25-Year Old Gets Life Sentence for Meth Manufacture
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 6:11 PM

And everyone knows this story (from this week's Drug War Chronicle) must originate in the USA, not in Burma or Syria or North Korea. In my own state of Illinois, no less. The federal judge was following the federal sentencing guidelines, which he criticized as calling for excessive punishment. Perhaps the judge should look into this organization...

Labels: drugs, methamphetamine, sentencing