Meth Becoming a Threat in Many Cities

Safe drug education would be critical.Much like the "don't drink and drive" moto has become engrained in our culture.
 
cheers mate. Yep I think one of the main problems with the misinformation that circulates about drug consumption and legailty, is that it is all located within a cultural climate thats full of loaded assumptions and prejudices.
This problematises the ways in which we socially regard and receive drugs, their effects and their potential for harm. Until we abandon these preconceptions about what drugs are and what they do, we will not be able to accurately assess their social impact. That's why I reckon sites like blue light are really important, in order to create a forum that can debunk and diffuse the myths that have previously conditioned our ways of thinking. Its also why current affairs programs suck, because they rarely offer new information, rather they trade off prejudices, stereotypes, fear and ignorance surrounding drugs. GRRRRR!
 
Neez said:
...the main problems with the misinformation that circulates about drug consumption and legailty, is that it is all located within a cultural climate thats full of loaded assumptions and prejudices.
This problematises the ways in which we socially regard and receive drugs, their effects and their potential for harm. Until we abandon these preconceptions about what drugs are and what they do, we will not be able to accurately assess their social impact...
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That is an excellent summation of the state things are in today.

Excellent!
 
i think meth is already a "problem"

they always say "new problem" "this problem is GROWING!" because it makes it seem like you have to stop the impeding tidal wave, doesnt imply the problem was there for a long time and if you dont give the govt more power to "stop it" itll just be the same as it is now
 
I think meth is the most dangerous drug on the planet (most likely to cause the most serious harm to the most people), but I still think it should be legalized.

Prohibition always makes a situation worse. It's a fact.
 
Here is a big thing I see going around with the meth scene in my city. There is no honor amongst them so when they get caught they rat out others and never get any real prison time. There are people here that get caught with a lab and then twice more before they go to court. The punishment they normally get is a little probation.

They keep turning eachother in so it keeps coming back at them. Then they get arrested again and it is revolving door. If most of the meth manufacturers and mid to high level dealers were actually getting legthly sentences instead of lesser sentences for ratting the problem wouldl't be growing at the rate it is.

For the addicts and users they need to try more harm reduction. They need to try to sleep at least every night and still eat regularly. They need to take special care with thier teeth and not pick or do dirty meth. The addicts and users do not need to be prosecuted or punished because people are always going to do drugs, but they need to be given some intense long term rehabititation instead of incarceration if caught for simple possesion.

For the people caught manufacturing, especially if children live in the same dwelling they deserve the book thrown at them. Doing drugs is one thing, risking others while manufacturing an extremely explosive cook is another.

As I have stated meth causes alot more social issues then many other drugs. I am not going to rehash them, but something needs to be done to taper off the growth of this drug. Prohibition is not working, but legalizing and regulating it is not a viable solution either. I certainly do not know the answer to curb this, but I know prohibition and legalization both have thier flaws and will not fix the problem.
 
Prohibition is not working, but legalizing and regulating it is not a viable solution either.
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It is one or the other, one of these is inevitable. History has shown that prohibition is worse, thus if we are to learn from our mistakes we must choose legalization (with plentiful regulation, education, and rehabilitation).
 
Exactly!

Prohibition eliminates the ability to regulate, and makes the manufacture of prohibited drugs attractive to the criminal element. It effectively creates a new market for crime where it previously did not exist.

Most drug crime is the direct result of prohibition. And illegal drug labs (a serious public health hazard) would not exist if they could not be profitable (prohibition creates massive price increases).


Also, as I see it, the notion of "legal" is often seen to take place in a vacuum, but that does not need to be the case.

In a legal market, harm reduction can be incorporated into the drug itself. Effectively, delivered with each dose. Meth, for example, has a potential to induce a drug dependency in some who use it. And long term, chronic use, is almost certain to produce a drug dependency.

If "buffers" were added to the meth which counteracted the imprinting (and prevented other reward-loop neuro-networks from forming) that occurs as a result of the drug's use, its dependency producing effects could be eliminated.

Likewise, if added buffers were able to negate the dopamine reuptake transporter oxidation from forming, then the effects that we seen in some chronic users would also be eliminated.

There is a great deal of study which is looking into the pathology resulting from the drug's use. These problems are the direct result of changes in neurochemistry. And if we can eliminate those conditions from occurring, then we have effectively removed its teeth.

Not only is this a real possibility, but our neurosciences have developed to the point were we can do it.


.
 
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qwe said:
i think meth is already a "problem"

they always say "new problem" "this problem is GROWING!" because it makes it seem like you have to stop the impeding tidal wave, doesnt imply the problem was there for a long time and if you dont give the govt more power to "stop it" itll just be the same as it is now
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It's growing like crazy.

But there is a problem with the "problem" reports, and no one appears to be look at it. At least not dispassionately . 8)

The overall market for the drug greatly exceeds the economic demand of the population of those showing up on radar as problematic users. Add all of these people together, and they can not account for the size of the current market.


My theory is that there is a large group of periodic and functional users, and I am basing this on two factors:
  1. That the methamphetamine confiscated in drug busts constitutes roughly 5% or less of the total market (so far, you never hear of the meth market drying up for any length of time).
  2. That the population with management problems (I refer to them as "positives") is unable to be the sole consumers to be able to support the existing methamphetamine market. They are far too small a group, and the market is far too large.
So my theory is concerned with one thing that we can see: the "positives" and the size of the overall underground black market.

And something else that we can not see, except indirectly: the invisible users (who I refer to as the "invisibles"). These folks are kind of like the "dark matter" of the methamphetamine using population and appear to fund the bulk of the methamphetamine market through their consumption.

I am asserting that the invisibles are functional because once they've lost their ability to be functional, they would become marginalized within society (due to personal tragedy: no job, no home, no savings, no family, etc.), and would have a high likelihood of showing up as a "positive" at some point there after.

The rate at which they would show up would be variable: but when dysfunctional, all roads lead to the "positives" (due to health care, arrests, domestic disturbances, etc.).

One other option for dysfunctionality (sp?) is to seek treatment (with the support of gamily, friends, employers, etc.). But there again, there is not a large enough population combined with the "positives" to account for the large market. And hopefully, anyone in treatment is not a methamphetamine consumer (or at least has greatly limited consumption). So these would represent a population which is not supporting the current market.


So I am not without some degree of evidence concerning this "invisible" group. It just isn't possible to have data showing usage patterns and cross section profiles. :)

The supply of a market (legal or illegal) is controlled by its demand. And, even without applying economics and market theory, it is just common sense that someone is not going to produce something if there are no buyers. And that those who do, quickly go out of business.


There is far more to this story than is being revealed through population statistics taken solely from a pathological cross sampling. The problem users would most certainly show up visibly (they really can't help it). It is just that this group is not capable of accounting for the whole of the market.
 
Albert Walker said:
... but I know prohibition and legalization both have thier flaws and will not fix the problem.
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So if there isn't a perfect solution to a problem you choose the worst solution?
Please realize that you will never find the perfect "fix" to the problem of drug addiction. Harm minimization is the key.
 
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